


Darkness I Became

by eventualprocrastination



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Despair, Exile, F/M, Family Drama, Implied Sexual Content, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s), Romance, Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-04-20
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-11-13 02:28:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 191,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11175108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eventualprocrastination/pseuds/eventualprocrastination
Summary: Sigyn abandoned Asgard in search of her banished father, and ended up disallowed from returning home. For centuries she lived on Earth, growing lonelier and bitter. In the present, Loki comes to Earth to rule the mortals and Sigyn joins him.





	1. Swordplay

* * *

 

It was the sound of children's laughter, and children's laughter only, that echoed off the walls of the Hall of Heroes. The scamper of several pairs of feet soon followed, as the children they belonged to appeared, running around from behind the throne where Asgard's ruler, Odin, usually sat. In their hands, wooden swords were held tightly as each of them became to fight with the each other. They were playing with one another, the clacking of wooden swords against wooden swords, the joy in their eyes and voices unmistakable and rather infectious. Standing off to the sides, waiting in the wings, Odin, the All-father, stood with his wife Frigga, watching with impish smiles on their faces.

Their oldest son, the fair-haired Thor was the liveliest of the children present, trying to play-fight everyone at the same time, shouting out happily, "Surrender your weaponry! I am the mighty Thor!"

"You have the mightiest stench, as well!" came the retort from Sif, her blonde hair pulled back off her face with a leather string.

As those two began to parry, Thor's brother, the dark-haired and green-eyed Loki stood a few feet away, his own sword at his side as he watched everyone, studying them with an intenseness, as if trying to determine the weakest link before he 'went in for the kill'. He was distracted like that until he felt a dull prodding at his back. Loki turned his head to the left to see a girl standing beside him, dark hair and green eyes like him.

Sigyn.

"Are you not going to play?" she asked. Honestly, she was just as happy to stand there, watching the others.

"I am," he responded as she was gently shoved forward.

As she dropped to her knees, she turned to look at Loki, only to see another Loki standing behind where she had been seconds before. "No fair! That's cheating, Loki!"

His double disappeared and he simply laughed. "All is fair in love and war."

Sigyn made a face. "What does that even mean?"

Loki shrugged. "I don't know. I heard my father say it once."

A quick smirk upon her lips and she was on her feet in an instant, throwing herself against Loki, taking him down to the marble floor with her. She sat on his chest in a way that her knees kept his arms pinned to the ground as well. She then snickered down at him as she raised her wooden sword up and lowered the point to the base of his neck, between both clavicles. Her smirk turned into rather devilish grin but instead of keeping him pinned like that any further or him throwing her off of him, she chose to simply pull the sword away, stand up and offer him her hand.

"Thank you," he murmured, sheepishly. His eyes diverted to the others who had taken a moment to see that Sigyn had bested him and then helped him up after the fact. He saw the impish looks on their faces, the teasing in their eyes, like shouting, _'Loki was bested by a girl_.'

Without really meaning to, or planning it, he pushed her backward so that she fell back onto her behind. She stared up at him with confusion and slight hurt in her eyes.

"Wha—"

"That is the only time I'll let you win a round, so do not get used to it."

Upon hearing his retort, the other boys and Gudrun chuckled. Only Sif seemed to bother with coming over to Sigyn to see if she was okay.

Instead of appreciating the gesture, Sigyn shrugged it off and went running out of the hall. She didn't even notice her uncle and ruler, Odin, and his wife as she went past. She ran out of the hall altogether and made her way through a couple corridors to a courtyard where she sat down on a marble bench, slouched forward, her face pinched with frustration. Her wooden sword dropped to the ground with a clatter that echoed off the courtyard walls.

She could have easily gotten to her feet and pushed Loki back, maybe even kicked him for good measure. Instead she chose to let emotions get to her, and run away. Sigyn had had a few reactions like that recently, but her mother, Freya – Goddess of Fertility, Beauty and Love and a Valkyrie – had insisted it was simple growing pains and she was best to deal with it accordingly. But she didn't understand how she was feeling, or how to deal with it. She often felt her mother didn't understand her either. She wasn't affectionate like other mothers and Sigyn didn't think it was because her mother was a Valkyrie. That couldn't be an excuse, because how could she be deemed a goddess of love, otherwise?

It had to be herself, Sigyn usually thought. She resembled her father more, but was different from both by having dark hair, almost midnight black. Her mother was blonde; her father's slightly darker than blonde.

Hunched forward, she fiddled with her fingers and bit her lip as she heard the strong set of footsteps approaching. Sigyn lifted her head to find her father Lodur, God of Solitude and brother of Odin, standing a few feet behind her. He was a handsome man, with a strong and regal face, another aspect of his she inherited. He was looking at her with both concern and amusement, holding his hands in front of his stomach.

"What is wrong, my daughter?"

Sigyn shrugged, growing embarrassed by how she ran off. "Loki," she answered briefly.

Lodur smirked, casually sitting down beside her. "What has he done this time? Has he put snakes in your shoes again? Pulled your hair maybe?"

Sigyn shook her head and looked back down at her fingers. "We were playing warriors in the Great Hall with our wooden swords. Loki tricked me that he was standing next to me, but he just projected a double, then he shoved me. When I got up and knocked him back down and sat on him. And I could have stayed like that, bested him further, but I got up and helped him up," she explained. "And then he shoved me down, saying he let me best him and he would not do it again." Sigyn looked up at her father with a pained expression. "But he did not let me best him, father. I bested him all on my own!"

"He was probably just embarrassed, my darling girl. Boys get like that as children. They must appear stronger than girls, even if agility isn't their forte. He did what he did and said what he did to save face; I doubt he meant it personally." Lodur placed his hand on his only child's shoulder and gave it a consoling squeeze. "Loki is a good boy. If his mother has anything to do with it, she will make him apologize to you later. And you really should have pushed him back."

"I know."

Lodur chuckled slightly, pulling Sigyn close against him for a side hug. "You are going to have to work on running away from your problems. When you believe in something strongly, fight for it. Know when to be respectful but also when to stand up for yourself. If you think something is not right and needs to be changed, you speak up and you try and change it. And I say try, because sometimes we fail. Not every fight that is fought is won. At least then you can say you tried than not having done anything at all."

Sigyn thought about this for a moment, and then got the feeling that her father wasn't really talking about her predicament with Loki anymore and that there was something more problematic under the surface he wasn't letting in on.

"Yes, father." It was all she could think of to say.

Placing a kiss on her temple, Lodur then pulled back and gestured for her to get up. "Go seek out Loki, and either demand his apology or give him a good shove to know you are not to be trifled with."

Sigyn grinned. "Yes, father." With that, she bent down and picked up her wooden sword and took off in a sprint, heading back toward the Great Hall.

Lodur continued to sit there, folding his hands between his knees and he leaned forward. Something darker crept across his face, turning his features serious and conflicted.


	2. Free Fall

* * *

 

Sometime later, Sigyn sat in a tree in the garden of her family's estate within the city of Asgard. Her legs dangled on either side of the large branch she was balancing on; her arms outstretched and reaching for a raven a few feet up the branch from her. It was not any raven either; it was Huginn, one of Odin's, and for whatever reason, it had decided to perch itself in this tree.

"Come here…come…" Sigyn called out, hoping the bird would come to her of its own free will.

"Why are you up in that tree?"

Sigyn looked down at the ground below and discovered Loki standing there with curious eyes. In his right hand was a leather bound book; in his left was a satchel that looked quite full and lumpy.

"Your father's raven."

"Which one is it?"

"Huginn."

Loki smirked and pursed his lips together, whistling. The raven cocked its head, seemingly stared at him for a few moments and then flew off the branch and off to parts unknown.

"There, now he won't be a spy."

"A spy on what?" Sigyn wondered.

"Us," Loki answered simply. He held the book up toward her and gestured like he was about to throw it up. "Catch." Without missing a beat, he tossed the book up and Sigyn caught it in her hands; somehow managing not to fall off the branch. "Now slide over; I'm coming up." Loki gripped his satchel firmly in his left hand as he stepped up to the trunk of the tree and began to pull himself up.

He might not have been as athletic as the other boys but he was agile and spry in his own right. He quite practically flung himself up and ended up sitting right beside her.

"What's in your satchel?" Sigyn asked.

"Some pastries I stole from the kitchen." He held the satchel over to her and then took the book she was holding.

Sigyn giggled. "Well, give here." She opened the satchel and pulled a frosted cookie out.

"I took this book from the library. I thought I could teach you some of the magic my mother's been teaching me."

"Sure." Pulling out another of the treats Loki had brought, she handed it to him while he flipped through the pages of the book. "Can you teach me how to make a double of myself like you do?"

Loki nodded. "Probably. I've actually been working on making more than one of me. It hasn't worked so well recently though. I created a double and half of a double a few days ago; scared my mother."

"Do you…"

"What?"

"Do you know how to make people stay in love? Is that in one of your books from the library?"

Loki furrowed his brow, genuinely confused, curious and a little concerned. Sigyn was biting her bottom lip, casting her glance downward. "Is it your mother and father again?"

Sigyn nodded. "Something bad happened and they won't tell me about it, but whatever it is has driven them further apart. My father has been sleeping in a different bedchamber for a while, but now they barely speak to one another and when they do, they argue."

"I could find out…what they have been arguing about, I mean," Loki offered. "I'm very good at hiding. I could hide somewhere and listen for something…then I could tell you."

"You would do that for me?"

Loki nodded. "Yes. We're friends, not just cousins."

Sigyn began to beam and leaned forward to try and hug him, but in the process she lost her balance and slipped from the branch. All in an instant, as she propelled to the ground below, Loki reacted as quickly, throwing his book off him and reaching a hand out and somehow stopped her from falling. She was stuck, mid air, about a foot off the ground, looking skyward and up at Loki with an incredulous smirk on her face.

"Tricky, tricky," she remarked, in regard to him using some of the magic he'd been taught.

He then let her fall the remaining foot, with little more than a delicate thud upon the ground, nowhere close to causing an ounce of pain for her. Not even an ounce of wind was knocked from her chest. She just rested upon the ground, staring up at him as he jumped down, landing on his feet like a cat and then crouching down to her side.

"You almost hurt yourself trying to hug me," he commented.

"But you didn't let me get hurt."

"I'd never let you get hurt." Loki smiled at her and she leaned up, placing her arms around his neck.

"You are my best friend, Loki."

 

* * *

 

There were muffled voices coming from one of the corridors in Sigyn's home. Loki was slowly approaching them with silent footsteps, easily ducking behind one of the pillars. His smallish, fair hands gripped the cool, marbled stone, straining to hear what the voices of his uncle, his father's brother Lodur, was saying to his wife Freya.

"I did what I felt was right! Odin is a fool and does not deserve the throne upon which he sits!"

"Oh, and _you_ are more worthy?" Freya questioned, derision dripping from her voice. " _You_ are the fool, dear _husband_." Loki felt surprised by this intimate argument, how mocking Freya was of Lodur, and how calling him her husband was like acid on her tongue. "Because of your actions you will be sentenced as a traitor to this realm. Do you not realize the punishment for such a thing? Or maybe that was your plan all along; to get as far away from me as possible!"

"Banishment is not something I would ever dream of achieving, save only for my daughter's sake; most certainly not yours, _wife_."

"Well, you've dug your grave, haven't you?"

Loki couldn't bring himself to listen any further. He closed his eyes and disappeared. He was not gone, however. His actual body was in Sigyn's bed chamber in another wing of the home. He turned around; having had his back to her while she sat upon her bed with one of his books on magic in her lap.

She turned her attention to Loki when she noticed him give a slight shiver, as if snapping back to reality. "Are you cold?"

Loki shook his head. "No. I was just spying on your parents."

Sigyn stared wide-eyed and curiously at him. She closed the book, slid it off her lap and hopped down from her bed to the floor. "You were? What did you see?"

"I didn't see them, but I heard them."

"Alright, well…what did you hear, then?"

Loki was unsure what to tell her; the stark truth or the watered-down version. He didn't want to see her get upset or cry. Sigyn noticed his hesitation.

"Loki, tell me."

"They were arguing."

"I told you that is all they do these days." She frowned. "What of the argument, though? Was it very serious?"

Loki nodded. "Yes."

"How serious?"

"I think your father is in a lot of trouble. I think he did something to greatly offend my father."

Sigyn furrowed her brow and cast her gaze at the floor. Biting her lip, she tried to think of what offence her father could have committed against his own brother to put him in such serious trouble. "Are…" she trailed. "Are you sure that is what you heard? Maybe you are mistaken."

Shaking his head, Loki replied, "But I'm not." He frowned and decided to push forward. "Your mother mentioned something about him being punished for his actions. I think he is looking at banishment from Asgard."

The color instantly drained from Sigyn's face. Even in the warm, golden glow from torches on the wall, Loki could see as much.

"No," she murmured. "You lie." She met Loki's eyes with her own and looked at him with anger slowly beginning to boil within them. "You are a talented liar, and that is what you are doing now. I do not appreciate this trick, Loki. It is cruel."

"It is not a lie," he insisted.

"Get out of my room," she stormed over to her bed and grabbed his book of magic, chucking it at his feet. "Get out, Loki! Go home!"

Loki was hurt as he crouched down and picked his book up. He stared at her with a defiant pout. "I am not lying!" he shouted right back at her. "You just do not want to hear the truth!"

With that, he opened the door to her bedchamber and ran out, slamming the door behind him. Sigyn jumped slightly at the sound and began to fume and tear up. She felt scared that what he had told her was true, and that he was right; that she didn't want to hear the truth. It would be easier if he was lying and her father wasn't in such dire trouble.

Slowly, she stepped closer to her door and opened it. With quiet, delicate footsteps, she began to move out into the corridor, heading in the direction of the mezzanine where she heard a commotion. She began to run, hearing her father's shouts and the subsequent clanging of steel and armor. As she reached the railing that looked from the second story, down to the first, she saw her father being accosted by Odin's guards.

"Vé, son of Bor and Bestla, otherwise known as Lodur, you are to come with us to receive your punishment for the crime of treason against your brother, Odin Borson, the All-father of this realm."

"No!" Sigyn screamed, not even realizing she had done so. She released her grip from the railing and made her way down to the mezzanine, pushing past the guards to throw her arms about her father's waist. "Do not take my father!"

"Sigyn, you must let me go," Lodur urged.

"No, I won't…you cannot leave me."

"My darling daughter, you must step aside."

"But, I don't want you to go…" she whimpered, her face pressed into his stomach, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It will be alright. Your mother will look after you."

"Let them take her, not you."

Despite everything, Lodur let out a laugh. "If I had a say in the matter, I would stay here instead. But I must leave with these good men."

"They are not good if they are taking you from me."

Lodur leaned downward and placed a kiss on top of Sigyn's head. "I love you, Sigyn Vésdóttir."

With that, he pried Sigyn from him and allowed the guards to take hold of his arms and lead him down the stairs to the first story, leaving Sigyn to wail behind him, trying to follow after. Freya appeared, however, and pulled her daughter back. The woman's soft blonde locks fell around her daughter's shoulder as she leaned closer.

"Sigyn, there is nothing you can do."

Sigyn turned around and gave her mother a shove. "You do not even care! Leave me alone!" Sobbing, she ran back up in the direction of the second story, heading toward a balcony at the front of the home, so she could watch her father being carted away…

…unaware Loki was watching the entire scene play out, from behind a tree below the balcony. He wore a pained expression on his face, wishing for a moment he could make Sigyn's sadness go away.


	3. Alibi

* * *

 

As the years began to slip by, the world around Sigyn changed only slightly. Her father had been subsequently banished; to where exactly, she knew not. She had not been allowed to be present at his so-called sentencing. Her mother, Freya, had even refused to answer any questions she had about it all, which made the already large gap between mother and daughter even larger. To make matters worse, Freya had taken a new husband, Odr. He was a dull fool and for whatever reason, her mother loved him. So much so that she happily bore him two daughters. The first born of Freya's second marriage was Hnoss, the second born was Gersemi. Sigyn was positive the pair was exactly what her mother always wanted; children that resembled her. They were both fair-haired, looked more like their mother than Sigyn ever would. Even as infants, their temperaments were uncannily similar to Freya.

And, slowly, Sigyn just stopped caring. She made no attempts to have any semblance of a relationship with her mother. She spoke to her when she needed to and she answered when spoken to, but kept her answers short and straight forward. She sure as hell made no attempt to have any relationship with her stepfather, and he didn't seem to be bothered by it anyway. Sigyn did, however, feel some form of love toward her little half-sisters. She couldn't help it; they were indeed adorable and charming babies. Sigyn would hold them, play with them, sing them lullabies when they were sad or tired, but only when their mother was absent from the home.

For the most part, Sigyn only had her friendships and tutoring to fill up her days.

When she wasn't studying the subjects she deemed useless to her, she spent any and all free time in the company of her female friends, Sif and Gudrun, but most often it was just Loki and her, playing simple childhood games or him teaching her what magic he had learned.

She hadn't forgiven him for telling her about what he had overheard, because he had done nothing wrong. Instead, she had apologized for acting so rashly toward him about it all. Loki easily forgave her; insisting it was nothing and he was sorry about her father's banishment. If she ever needed an ear, she had his.

 

* * *

 

Several days following Thor's birthday banquet, Loki met up with Sigyn by a lake below the Great Hall. She sat there on the water's edge; her feet submerged, letting the coolness soothe her aching feet from all the dancing in the horribly binding shoes she had been wearing.

Loki came running up to her, nearly out of breath as he dropped to the ground beside her and almost fell completely back like a lump of coal.

Sigyn raised an eyebrow. "What have you done now?"

Propped up on his elbows, he looked up at her. "Why do you assume I did something wrong?"

"Because you look as if you are running from something you did, as usual," she snickered. "What trickery this time, cousin?"

Loki smirked mischievously. "You know me too well." As his breath steadied, he shrugged. "Nothing too horrible. It'll grow back…I mean, at least I think it will."

Sigyn's eyes widened. Normally his mischief was minor, brash things; a spider in your soup, snakes in your shoes, temporary loss of smell. That sort of thing. And Sigyn usually found it amusing, or daresay endearing. This time, however, she was a bit wary and concerned.

"Loki…what did you do?"

"You know how Sif's hair is the loveliest golden locks in the all the realm eternal? Second only to Thor's, of course," he let out a soft chuckle.

"Oh, mercy…please tell me you did not do what I think you did."

"Well, if you think I cut off her hair, then…"

"Loki!"

"What? It was funny. You should've seen her reaction."

"It was her hair!"

"Exactly, it'll grow back. It might take a while, but it will. Er, should…I do not really know, actually."

"She is going to have your testicles skewered on a silver platter."

Loki sat straight up and threw his hands over his crotch. "I should hope not," he gasped teasingly. He cast her a shit-eating grin and removed his hands to lean back on his elbows once more. "What have you been doing today?"

"Do not change the subject, Loki Odinson," Sigyn chastised. "Does anyone know it was you? Did anyone see you?"

"Well, there is Heimdall. He sees everything, as you well know. He might blow the horn on me."

"When did you do it?"

"Last night, while she slept."

Sigyn rolled her eyes. "Any particular reason why?"

"It's not really important why, is it? I did it, it's done with. Now I need to figure out how to avoid the consequences of my actions." He didn't seem to upset by this. He turned to Sigyn and bat his eyelashes at her like a dimwitted lady trying to woo a potential suitor. "Will you be my alibi, my dear friend?"

"I am always your alibi."

"That is because you are so damned good at lying for me. It truly is a gift."

Again, Sigyn rolled her eyes, but this time a smile she couldn't help began to tug at the corners of her mouth, betraying any possible attempts to remain serious about the situation.

"I can lie for you till I am blue in the face, but the question is will anyone believe me this time? What possible alibi could I give you?"

"Tell them, whoever may ask, that I was in your bedchambers all last night. I fell asleep while we were telling stories back and forth to each other, and you didn't want to wake me because I looked so peaceful."

Sigyn merely gave him a withering look. "Unlikely anyone would believe that one."

"Then what do you suggest, Sigyn dear?"

"You were teaching me a new bit of magic until the early hours of the morning," she suggested after a few moments of consideration. "And if they ask for proof, I can show them something you've taught me recently."

Loki sat back up and threw his right arm around Sigyn's waist, pulling her into a tight, side hug, and then kissed her cheek. "And this is why you are my dearest friend, and the best keeper of my lies."

Sigyn smirked, and then shoved him away. "You will be my undoing, I fear."

"Nonsense. I will never let anything about you become undone."

Raising an eyebrow at him, Sigyn just shook her head. "That sounded a lot worse than I think you meant it, cousin."

"Unfortunately, you are right. It did sound a lot less uncouth in my head."

The pair sat their quietly for a while longer. Loki took off his boots and rolled up the bottoms of his pants, thrusting his bare feet into the water, occasionally trying to splash some onto Sigyn to which she retaliated by giving him another playful shove or two.

The playful solace between them was soon cut short when they heard Thor's youthful but bellowing voice shout out Loki's name from a distance.

Sigyn just looked at Loki and made a face. "I guess Thor found out about Sif's hair."

Loki was already putting his boots back on, and in a hurry. "You're probably very right." He didn't bother lacing them up as he leaned down, placed a kiss upon Sigyn's head, flashed a smile and gave a wave. "I will see you later, Alibi o'mine."

Without missing a beat, Loki took off running up the hill from the lake and in the opposite direction Thor's voice was coming from, and not a few moments later, Thor appeared at the other end of the hill above the lake. He looked down at Sigyn who sat alone at the water's edge.

"Sigyn," he called out. "Have you seen my brother?"

"Not since this morning," she replied innocently. "We were up all hours of the night. He was teaching me some magic. Do you want to see?"

 

* * *

 

A day later, Loki was nursing a black and blue mark under his right eye from where Thor punched him. As it turned out, Sigyn's alibi proved to be useless only because Heimdall did in fact blow the horn on Loki. Thor had suspected Loki's involvement from the start because the act reeked of something his younger brother would do and when Thor learned it was Loki's doing for certain, he reacted the best way he knew. Violence.

"Does it hurt?"

Sigyn was sitting on her chaise lounge in her bedchamber with her legs tucked up underneath her, and Loki sat across from her. It was night in Asgard and Loki had snuck in through her bedroom window after she had announced she was retiring for the evening after another awkward dinner with her mother, stepfather and barely toddling half-sisters. He lost his footing once he was through the window and stepped on a few books that lay on floor below, causing him to nearly fall forward and knock over several items on her dressing table. Sigyn had been quick to react and caught him so it wouldn't draw attention from her mother.

Freya had already expressed more than once her dislike of Loki hanging around all the time; that Sigyn should be spending more time with her female friends and that Loki was nothing more than a spoiled mischief maker and a bad influence. That was one argument that ended with Sigyn calling her mother an old hag and throwing a brass cup to the floor before storming off rather childlike for someone on the brink of womanhood.

"Not really," Loki answered, letting Sigyn very gently touch his bruise. "It's just a war wound, or a Thor wound, rather."

Sigyn snickered. "What punishment beside the Thor wound did you receive? Was the All-father harsh?"

"Well, he didn't banish me." After the words slipped from his mouth, he sat up a little straighter. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that…"

Shrugging aloofly, Sigyn shook her head. "It's okay. I'm rather used to the jest about my father's banishment by now. I deal with the looks every day from people at court."

"I didn't mean to make light of what happened, though."

"Loki, it is alright, I said," she insisted. "What of you? What punishment are you facing for your dastardly deeds?"

"Thor is forcing me to restore Sif's hair, so I'm going to pay a visit to some dwarfish craftsmen and see if they'll create some new hair."

Sigyn looked skeptical. "Can you afford it? Dwarf goods are not cheap, even if you are the All-father's son."

Loki shrugged. "I'll make do."

"Famous last words," she teased.

"Let's not speak any further on this subject. It's irritating me."

"Then what do you want to talk about?"

Loki turned to face her fully his green eyes practically danced with delight as an idea came to mind. "Let me show you how to speak telepathically with me."

"Well, if you insist," Sigyn sighed, trying to pretend as if it was a chore, but she couldn't keep the errant giggle from escaping past her lips.


	4. These Feelings

* * *

 

As usual, life went on in Asgard; days bled into one another, seamlessly stitched together by the hands of time and going unnoticed by all those in the realm eternal whose lives were virtually immortal. What was a day or a year even when you could live for hundreds, if not thousands? Loki did in fact pay a visit to the dwarves to craft new hair for Sif, but he was unable to afford enough gold and the dwarves decided that "for the price of naught" they would make "strands of naught." The dwarves created magical strands of hair from the blackness of the night. The strands of darkness took root the moment they were placed on Sif's head, and then began to grow out. Her hair had become the same dark shade known to only a few in all of Asgard, including Loki and Sigyn. Sif cried and cried, devastated by what had been done to her. Her hair had been her most cherished possession, none could compare in its golden splendor. And Loki had permanently ruined it.

Thor had tried to assure her that she looked even lovelier this new way, that it suited her well, and while she accepted his compliments, Sif's vanity over the issue carried on and soon it became such a tiresome problem for her parents who had to listen to her mewl about it day in and day out. It got to the point where they realized the only way to put some sense into their daughter was to give her a larger purpose in life, to not be so focused on her appearance. Gudrun had already gone off to be trained as a shield maiden and Sif's parents thought this the perfect opportunity.

The day before Sif's departure, the lot of them all went to one of the lakes beyond the Hall of Heroes. The Asgardian youth preferred it above all other lakes because it was secluded by an abundance of trees and shrubbery. There was even a smallish waterfall at the north side of the lake and, through the falling waters which cascaded down from the smallish mountainside, there was a cavern that lead to parts unknown. So many tales of woe had been spun about those caverns that none of them had ever dared venture through the watery curtain to explore. Instead, they kept to the lake, where bonfires were held on the water's edge or swimming usually took place.

On this particular day, it was swimming. But the day had already wore on and most were growing bored with the activity and decided to head off in search of food and drink. Loki and Sigyn stayed behind, wading in the shallow part of the lake, splashing each other back and forth, until Loki announced he wanted to get something to eat as well. Sigyn still wasn't ready and told him to head off without her.

And he wasn't sure why he felt so compelled, but as soon as he was out of the water, Loki grabbed her clothes and her shoes she had left draped over a low tree branch after he'd put his outer garments back on, and took off with them. She hadn't seen him do it and he figured she'd cry out with horror when she found her clothes gone, and he'd get a quick laugh out of it, but it would be funny and she would forgive him for being mischievous yet again.

Loki sat quietly amongst the bushes, hidden from view and watched as Sigyn swam a few laps closer to the center of the lake and then back to the shore. He was suppressing a giggle or two, contemplating the look on her face when she would finally emerge from the water. And soon, she appeared to have determined that without anyone else there, it was too lonely and rather boring to have a swim by herself. As she began the trek out of the water, her arms folded under her bosom but over the sheer undergarments she wore, Loki felt a stirring in him he had never felt before; at least not for Sigyn.

There was something different; the way her dark, wet hair looked even darker, like pure midnight and clung to her equally wet skin, the way her cheeks and lips seemed flush with color from exerting herself in the water, the way her soaked chemise hugged the burgeoning curves of her body. He bit his bottom lip and tried to shake the foreign feeling away. He was about to give up on hiding and just return her clothes to her before she really realized they were missing when he heard someone coming.

Loki kept still and silent and peered through the leaves of the shrubbery he sat behind. He could see it was Fandral who seemed to be looking for something. Loki practically turned to stone. How awkward it would be if the fair haired youth found him in the bushes with Sigyn's clothing. He dropped the clothes where he crouched and slowly began to back away, silent as the grave, while keeping his eyes on Fandral who appeared to be nearing Sigyn.

Loki hadn't been paying attention to her at that moment so he hadn't seen her silently cursing him under her breath as she was very obviously looking for her clothing.

"Lost?" Fandral jested.

Sigyn still kept her arms crossed over her chest. It would be embarrassing for him to see her in such a state in such a garment that became see-through when wet. When they were all in the water, it was another story. "No, my clothes are missing."

The pair looked each other in the eye and spoke the same name at the same time, "Loki."

Loki grimaced. He hadn't factored in anyone else finding out his latest prank. It just brought too many variables into the equation and could backfire in a more distressing way, mostly just for him.

"He said he was hungry and I wasn't watching as he got out of the water. I assume he took my clothes to fool with me," she commented.

"Sometimes, I daresay Loki takes his tricks too far."

Loki internally growled. _Pompous ass_ , he thought to himself.

"It is nothing I am not used to. I just wasn't expecting to make the journey home in nothing but my chemise, and in such a state as this. It's rather embarrassing."

Fandral offered a sympathetic look. "As I said, Loki tends to take his tricks too far."

Sigyn shrugged. "I suppose. It is not like he's being mean-spirited. He just…likes to have a bit of fun."

"At other people's expenses. He never thinks about the consequences to his actions."

Loki narrowed his brow, the scowl on his face almost causing an ache. He turned away and quietly began to back away from the brush; to make his leave without drawing attention to him. He was not in the mood to listen any further to the conversation being had.

"Here, let me give you my tunic to wear. You can cover up with it and once you have made it home with little to no embarrassment and find proper attire to wear, you can bring tunic back to me at your leisure."

Loki stopped in his tracks, further away from where he had been but still in earshot. He turned and fixed his gaze on the twosome standing in the clearing at the water's edge. Fandral was lifting his tunic up over his head and handed it over to Sigyn, then turned his face away to give her a bit of privacy to pull the tunic on over her chemise. And for a brief moment, Loki caught a glimpse of practically all of her, the light fabric, still soaked, and brushed against certain peaks of her anatomy that caused Loki to swallow back a lump in his throat while simultaneously bringing warmth to his face…and elsewhere.

He was growing confused and a little ashamed and didn't want to stay where he was any longer. In a mad dash, with the stealth of a cat, he tore off through the trees, through a thicket and then a briar patch before reaching a small field that lead toward the winding road that lead up to the Hall of Heroes. He stopped momentarily, crouching forward with his back arched and his palms on his knees, catching his breath.

"What is wrong with me?" he questioned himself. It was almost pained, the sound of his voice. His brow knitted together as he tried to understand what was going on in his mind, and subsequently with his body and emotions. He didn't like the sudden feeling of not having any control about what he was thinking or feeling.

Many yards behind him, back where he left Sigyn and Fandral, the pair were walking around, close to one another, as they happened to spot her clothes within some shrubbery.

As Sigyn grabbed her dress, she tugged at his tunic she was wearing. "I suppose I don't need to wear this anymore since my clothes are right here."

Fandral waved it off. "No, it's alright. Keep it for now. It'll give me an excuse for you to pay me a visit later."

Looking him in the eye, Sigyn narrowed her gaze at him with a smirk toying at her lips. "Other than returning your tunic, what reason would I have to visit you?"

"Well," he began, turning around to walk backward as he faced her. "We could always go walking together."

"We're walking now."

"True, but in a more _official_ sense."

"Official?"

"Yes."

"Fandral, do you mean to court me?"

"What if I do?" He raised his eyebrows and flashed the most charming of smiles.

"We're too young to be considering courtship. We have so many centuries ahead of us to worry about that. Why is it so important to court me now? We are barely out of childhood."

"The heart wants what the heart wants?"

"Are you not sure? Is that why you phrased that as a question?"

"Stop trying to evade, Sigyn."

"I am doing no such thing, I'm just…"

"Just what?"

Sigyn stopped walking. "Just let me think on this, alright? You don't need an answer right away, do you?"

Shaking his head, Fandral smiled. "I do not. As you said, we have centuries," he replied. "I will wait."

"Thank you."

"Return my tunic to me when you have an answer."

The pair stood silently for a moment before continuing on, taking a slightly different path than the one Loki had taken shortly before. As they walked, Fandral with his hands clasped together behind his back and Sigyn with her clothes bundled in a heap in her arms, she looked at his profile, not able to deny he was quite possibly one of the most beautiful youths in all of Asgard.

"Why would you want to court me anyway?" she asked suddenly.

"Why? Because I think you are one of the loveliest girls in all of Asgard."

Sigyn stopped walking again. She wasn't sure how it was possible that he thought the same of her that she had just been thinking of him. "It's not just because of how you think I look is it? I hope you are not that vain."

"No, of course not. I admire your sweetness, the way you laugh and smile…"

Biting her bottom lip, Sigyn shifted her heap of clothes from both arms to just the one arm as she used her free one to reach her hand out and grab Fandral's arm, proceeding to pull him closer to lay a kiss upon his cheek.

Without missing a beat, Fandral reacted by placing both his hands on both her shoulders and kissing her square on the mouth. It was an awkward kiss at first and mostly for Sigyn because she had never kissed a boy before. But she had watched others kissing before, she knew how to do it in the platonic sense, but this was not platonic, this was more. Her nerves were practically frayed when their lips parted.

"Does that sway your answer one way or the other?" he chuckled.

After gathering her wits about her, Sigyn let out a sigh and smiled, feeling warmth in her cheeks. "You will have your answer when I return your tunic."

With nothing more than a second, more demure smile sent his way, Sigyn took off in the direction of her home, leaving Fandral to stand there at the base of the small field, and unaware of Loki who had already made it back to his father's castle estate and was now overlooking the field where Sigyn had just left Fandral. He had seen their kiss and his innards twisted.

He was starting to feel jealousy, but he knew it should be wrong to have those feelings. Sigyn was his cousin, the daughter of his father's brother. But she was also his best friend, and he felt like Fandral was encroaching on his territory. And still, the feeling of jealousy seemed deeper seeded than just the possibility of losing his best friends to the bittersweet turmoil of potential young love. As he slowly began to sense the feeling was due to his own desire to be the one love of Sigyn's the more appalled he became with himself. They were family…it was wrong. He had to squash that feeling. But surely there had to be a reason why it also felt normal, that he should feel such a strong pull at his heartstrings over her.

There had to be more to it. There just had to be an explanation.

Right?


	5. Timing

* * *

 

The moment hadn't been right, it was all too soon for Sigyn.

She sat at her dressing table later that evening, merely hours after her kiss with Fandral. As she stared at her reflection, no longer wearing her soaked chemise or his tunic, she thought about his words and the possibility of courting at so young an age. She figured that if they started now, it would definitely lead to betrothal in the coming years, and marriage following. Given the relationship her own parents had and how fickle her mother seemed to be in the ways of love, despite being the goddess of it, Sigyn really had no basis for what a loving relationship should be like. She couldn't judge other couples in Asgard because she did not witness them together as long as she had her parents and she barely paid any attention now to her mother and Odr.

How could she even consider entering into a courtship with Fandral now? She liked him, sure. He was handsome, charming, debonair…dashing, even. Then there was her. She only saw a plain girl in the mirror with no discernible features about her for him to see her as 'one of the loveliest girls in the entire realm.' She couldn't see it, even if she knew that a person was their own worst critic.

Turning her gaze from the mirror and down to a small book on the dressing table, she noted it to be her journal in which she wrote down much of the magic Loki had taught her over the years. More than half she had been able to do successfully. Some she still couldn't grasp as easily as he did. For Loki it seemed like old hat; second nature to him. He was rather graceful in how he was able to master his magic and his tricks; it was the same grace in which most Asgardian males took to the more physical activities. But magic wasn't the only thing she had written in the journal. There were more personal things, doodles and such. She drew birds, flowers…she had even, once, attempted to draw Loki's profile when he didn't know she was watching him. It had been one day where he had his nose in one of his books from the library, leaning against the trunk of a tree. He had reminded her of a porcelain statue; his skin so fair and flawless, his features more sleek and pointed than the other males she knew and interacted with on a regular basis.

Loki was different than the others, and she liked that about him. He didn't seem to feel the same way. She knew he wanted to belong, deep down. She knew he wanted to be good at fighting like Thor and his friends, to be as strong and as physically built. He didn't like being different and Sigyn could see the sadness in his eyes, and whenever he caught her looking at him, his entire demeanor changed; the façade went up and the smile appeared on both his lips and in his eyes. How he was able to put up such a masquerade was beyond her. She could never hide her true feelings.

She wondered if it came naturally or if it was something he had learned in his magic books.

She wondered if she could keep her feelings in check when she told Fandral she just wasn't ready and she hoped he would understand and not take it to heart and hold it against her for years and centuries to come.

Caught up in her thoughts, she never even heard the knocking at her bedchamber door and its subsequent opening until she saw a figure of someone moving behind her in the reflection of her mirror. Looking up, she saw it was her mother.

Sigyn cast her eyes downward as not to reveal how she rolled them before turning completely around to look up at Freya. "Don't you knock, mother?"

"I did knock. You were too lost in your own little world to hear me."

"So, knock a little louder. It's rude to barge in without expressed permission," Sigyn snipped, childishly.

"Well, when it is your home, I will do just that, but since this is mine and you are my daughter, I shall enter wherever and whenever I deem it." Freya stood there, arms folded across her chest, glaring haughtily down at her daughter. She was a formidable god and a Valkyrie, previously; the latter a position she gave up several years back. But to Sigyn, she was just her mother and impressed her not.

"It is not your home; it is my father's home. It was given to him by his father before him and should pass to me by right of succession. Since father had no sons, it should pass to his eldest daughter, and since I am his only child, this home is mine."

"Darling, girl. It doesn't quite work like that. Your father is a known traitor to the realm, banished for all eternity. Any rights of succession where this estate are concerned were forfeit on the day he was sentenced. He has no ties to this home anymore, and because of my due diligence in the service of our king, the All-father, I was able to keep this home; this roof over our heads." Freya leaned closer, her face mere inches in front of Sigyn's. "This is my home. Your place here is transient; it will only last until you are old enough to take a husband and have a home of your own."

"I'm barely a guest, is that it?"

"No, you are my impertinent child who severely lacks discipline and obedience."

"Only to you."

"Exactly," Freya spoke, her voice unfaltering. One didn't ride off into battles and not become stalwart in their presence and demeanor. "Always loyal to your bastard of a father; even to this day. You need to curb yourself of that. It will do you much good in the long run not to align yourself with the unscrupulous. It could prove your downfall one day."

"If it would displease you, all the more reason for me to do just that."

Without warning, Freya hauled back and smacked Sigyn across the face. The simple striking act was strong enough to send Sigyn falling backward, landing on the flat of her back; her legs practically up over her head.

"Mother!"

"Do not bother calling me that anymore, child. You may from here on out refer to me as Milady, and you will get up and you will start packing your belongings."

Sigyn just laid there, astonished; her green eyes growing wider. "Are you turning me out?"

"No, just…sending you away."

"What? Where to?" She touched her hand to her face and gradually began to sit up.

"Tomorrow you will be joining Sif. I have decided you need the discipline and training as a shield maiden might prove beneficial to all concerned."

"You mean just to yourself."

Freya simply ignored the comment and continued. "You will pack only the necessary items. You will not need any fancy dress clothing, no jewelry or your precious magic books that wretch of a prince lends you. Where you are going to be trained, they will be of no use."

Sigyn jumped to her feet then, and threw herself at her mother, giving her a hearty shove but barely causing the older female to budge in the slightest. "Loki is not a wretch. He is worth a thousand times more than you are! You are horrid! A horrible mother and I wish you had never bore me!"

"Well, then." Freya turned and began to stalk towards the bedchamber door. She opened it and paused, her hand gripping the handle. "It would seem that makes two of us." A beat later, she added, "I will have your supper sent up to you. You will not be joining the rest of us tonight. And do not stay up too late wallowing. You leave at first light tomorrow."

With that, Freya shut the door behind her, leaving Sigyn to try and wrap her mind around what had just happened. After what seemed like a lifetime or two, she began to hurry about her bedchamber, gathering some of her simpler clothing, undergarments, her comb, her journal. She began to cry as she did so, especially when she opened her jewelry box and saw the turquoise ring her father had given her on the last birthday of hers she had before his banishment. She placed it on her finger and sank down onto her bed, hunching forward and placed her face in her hands.

Sigyn tried to push the emotions down, to call upon the façade Loki was able to use. And for a moment she couldn't help but smile. All the while Loki wished to have the strength the other Asgard youths had, she wished to have _his_ strength.

Slowly, she sank down off the side of her bed and sat on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and crying softly.

"Are you alright?" came a whispered voice at her window.

Sigyn blinked a few tears away as she raised her head and spotted Loki peering through the opened balcony door. The sheer curtains were flapping lazily in the breeze, his body silhouetted behind them. She wiped the rest of her tears away and bit her lip, not bothering to invite Loki in; he just let himself in, knowing she would've anyway.

"My mother rues the day I was born and she's sending me away."

Loki knitted his brow and slowly sank down to his knees in front of her. "What are you talking about?"

"We argued; she said I was undisciplined and disobedient. She's sending me to be trained as a shield maiden with Sif. I leave at dawn."

It seemed like the world began to fall away for Loki. He knew very well that the shield maiden training was an extensive training program that would last years and when she returned, she would be able to go on to becoming a Valkyrie if she so chose. That didn't particularly sound likely, but it still meant years with Sigyn gone. He wasn't sure he would know what to do with himself with his best friend gone.

"Can't you say no? Refuse?"

"How I wish," Sigyn sighed sadly. "But we both know until we reach adulthood, our parents make all our final decisions for us."

"What about Fandral?"

Sigyn looked Loki in the eye and made a face. "What about him?"

"I saw the two of you earlier. I saw…you know."

"You saw us kiss?"

Loki was slow to nod. "Yes."

"Oh." Then, "no, I don't see the point. He and I are not…you know. He asked me if could basically court me, and I was flattered, but…if I was more impulsive, I suppose I would've said yes. But I'm not ready for that kind of relationship with him."

"Oh. Just with him?"

Sigyn held Loki's gaze. "With anyone. I'm too young to be bound like that. I mean, that's not to say if I felt it was right…"

"Right like how?"

"I'd feel it in my bones. If I just knew that person was special, that they belonged with me at all times, that I thought about them almost every moment of the day…"

"And you don't feel that way with Fandral." It was a statement, not a question.

"I think he's exceptionally handsome, and maybe one day I could find him more pleasing to be around, but other than being friends, I can't see anything more between him and me. Not yet, anyhow."

Loki bit his lip. "Sigyn…"

"Yes?"

"I…" he trailed. He didn't know what to say. Could he love her? Of course he loved her, she was family; his cousin. But more than that was wrong. But it was only cousins, not siblings…no. No, no, no. He had to stop that. He had to leave it at them being merely cousins, friends; nothing more. But everything she had said; about knowing the person was special, wanting to be with them, thinking about them…it was tugging at his heartstrings again. There was a dull ache in his chest.

"What is it, Loki?"

"I, uh…" Change the subject, fool! "I do not want you to go."

Sigyn frowned. "I do not want to go, either."

"I'm going to miss you fiercely."

Through her tear-stained eyes, Sigyn began to smile slightly. "Oh, Loki, I think you're the only person I will miss."

Leaning forward on his knees, he pulled Sigyn into the tightest embrace. "I love you, cousin," he whispered into her hair. "I will count the days till you return. And when you do, no doubt you will easily put me to shame in the art of combat."

"I love you, too, dear friend." She smiled more fully, resting her chin on his shoulder and leaning the side of her face against the side of his.


	6. Paths

* * *

 

Sigyn was leaning against a large boulder, eating an apple with slight disinterest in the scene around her. Her feet were firmly planted upon the ground and were relatively warm in her brown, leather boots which were considerably worse for wear. Her hair was pulled back and disheveled, there were a few streaks of dirt smudged across her face and her lips were somewhat chapped from the dry, cold air. For the most part, she was bored. She loathed training, it was not fun for her, but she didn't seem to have a say in the matter. She was still not of age in the eyes of Asgardian policy and therefore could not just leave without consent from her parents, that being her mother whom she had not communicated with since first leaving to train as a shield maiden a few years before. And if she did leave, if she just ran away, she had no where she could go. The only person who she knew would take her in would be Loki. She knew he would not judge her as others would if she left. But she also know she couldn't stay at his home, because Odin would send her packing back to her mothers who would in turn send her back to training.

She was stuck. It felt as if her life was not her own. Everything was being decided for her and she hated every minute of it.

"Sigyn, don't just sit there!"

Sigyn looked to her right and saw Sif approaching with her sword in hand and a rather excitable smile upon her lips. "I'm not sitting, I'm leaning."

"You know what I mean. Come on, we're going to be late for rounds."

"I'd rather just stay right here with my apple."

Sif gave her a withering look. "You really don't have a choice."

"I never do." Sigyn took one last bite of her apple and threw it over her shoulder.

"Oh, now. Don't be a spoil-sport. You can't deny this is a little fun." Sif sidled up beside Sigyn, twisting her sword back and forth as she jabbed Sigyn's arm with her elbow.

Both females began to walk off toward an encampment where other females dressed in warrior-esque clothing were sitting around a communal fire. They were telling stories or just chatting while Sif and Sigyn continued on past.

"The only thing fun about any of this has been stabbing something with my blade when I get frustrated. I just don't find enjoyment in training like you or Gudrun have. It's not what I want, and I've never had a say in the matter."

"I didn't when I came here, either."

"True," Sigyn said. "But you also took to it like a fish to water. I'm no good at any of this."

"Don't be hard on yourself. You've done exceptionally well."

"We're Asgardian. We're predisposed to do exceptionally well. But you and Gudrun, the others…you've come to thrive on it. I am merely biding my time till it's over."

"You truly do not like being here, do you? It is not the company you keep, is it?" Sif looked almost sad as she asked her question.

Sigyn looked at her and frowned. "No, of course not, Sif. You are a good friend to me and always have been. I just don't enjoy…any of this. It is not what I want to be doing with my life."

"Well, then, what do you want to be doing?"

"I don't know, to be honest," Sigyn shrugged. "But when I do know, it will be because it is what I wanted; not a decision someone else made for me."

They walked quietly together up to ridge, where a group of young women like themselves were gathered to do some drills with their swords. As soon as they approached, their drill leader, Brunhilde, a Valkyrie who had "served" with Sigyn's mother Freya, stepped forward, bearing a rather magnificent sword. She gripped the hilt with her right hand and pointed at each and every one of the girls.

"Today is the day you have all been waiting for," she spoke with commanding authority. "A shield maiden is an honorable position and proof that we women are just as strong as our male counterparts." A few whoops of agreement sounded off from several of the girls. "And to prove your capabilities, comes your final test; to see if you can best…a man."

As Brunhilde stepped back, she gestured with her sword at a group of male warriors. Sigyn recognized none of them as they approached; their own swords in hand. They were brandishing their weapons and smiling at the girls.

"There are an equal number of them as there are to all of you. You will be partnered up to fight. This is an anything goes fight, because when the real thing happens, there will be no time outs. If you succeed in this task, you will have successfully completed your years of training to become shield maidens. You will also be given the opportunity to join the ranks of the Valkyries, which is a noble calling. If you are not sure being a Valkyrie is for you, then it is not for you. If you fail to best your male counterpart, it is fine, but you will not be given the same opportunity to join the Valkyries. Either way, you should all give one hundred percent. I will not allow any of you to slack off."

Sigyn sighed. This was going to be the exact opposite of fun.

"When I raise my sword, commence!"

All watched Brunhilde. When she was certain all eyes were on her, she slowly raised her sword above her head and the moment the point was completely aimed upward, the immediate clanking of swords could be heard.

Sigyn jumped backward as her male counterpart's sword came crashing down at her. She jumped to the side and had she not moved a second sooner, she would've lost a finger. She tried to access her anger, to focus it like she had been taught during the last several years of training. She even tried envisioning her opponent as her mother, which helped a little, if not simply for her own amusement.

"You fight like a girl," the man grunted with a laugh.

"You must be the genius of the bunch," Sigyn barked, a daring glimmer in her eyes, as they parried. "I am a girl, you twit."

"Exactly. I am going to best you so easily."

"So easily?" she repeated. "If you can do it so easily, how come we are still fighting?"

She gave a mean swing at him, and then spun, like a dancer. Out the corner of her eye, she could see Sif flip over her assailant's back and knock him forward a little. Sigyn ran backwards a few feet and then charged at her guy and as he swung his sword at her, she dropped to her knees, bent her body backward till she was practically parallel with the ground and slid right between his legs. Before he could even turn around, she was on her feet, facing his back and jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and bringing the edge of her sword up against the skin of his neck.

He ceased all movement and just stood there as she leaned forward, muttering in his ear, "One move and the contents of your throat will be at my mercy." When he struggled against her grip, she brought the blade closer, causing the slightest thin red line of blood to appear. "Your move. Do you surrender?"

"I surrender," he answered begrudgingly, throwing his sword to the ground.

With that, she hopped off him and stepped back. He turned around to face her and offered his hand. "Well played," he complimented.

Sigyn hesitated and held her sword up, shaking it from side to side so he kept his distance. "No, I'm not shaking your hand. You can easily have tricks up your sleeve, and believe me, I am very well versed in dealing with tricksters."

She meant, of course, Loki.

Suddenly, there was a hand on her back and she spun, ready to take out whoever it was, only to find Brunhilde glancing proudly at her. "You should be very proud of your success, Lady Sigyn. Did you know it took your mother more than double the time to defeat her opponent than it did you?"

Sigyn began to smile. "Are you serious?"

"Very. When we were just girls, first starting out, training to be shield maidens, she was very concerned about fighting interfering with her looks. She didn't like to get dirty."

A laugh escaped Sigyn's lips. "Sounds about right."

"Congratulations, Sigyn."

"Thank you."

"You'll make a fine Valkyrie, if that is the path you choose." Brunhilde then moved onward to speak to the other girls who had finished their fights or to keep an eye on those still fighting.

Gudrun walked up to Sigyn and grabbed her hand. The lovely blonde smiled at her and gave her a hug. "I saw that slide you did. I don't remember us doing anything like that in training."

"I improvised."

"No, that was great. When a real battle happens, improvising will be a great necessity."

"Yes, well…I don't have any battle plans in my future."

"You are joking right? But who will have my back?" Gudrun mock pouted.

"Sif, most likely. I just want to go home. I miss…" she trailed; Loki's face flashing into her mind.

He had been the one shining light for her during these many years. The girls all had the opportunity to return home on certain occasions, such as family celebrations, though some chose not to; like Sigyn. Gudrun, too. The twosome had never once returned home, choosing to stay where they were until it was all over. Though, where Sigyn was concerned, the main reason she didn't return home was simply her mother. She would've loved to have gone home simply to see Loki but she was still so angry at her mother, she had yet to forgive her for sending her away in the first place.

The one good thing to come out of her time training was that she sensed she was a stronger person, and despite not wanting to admit it to herself, she was a more mature young woman, just what her mother wanted. She had become more reserved, more graceful in her movements, not as prone to throwing a fit as she had in her younger years.

She left for training as a girl, and would return a woman.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in Asgard, night had fallen; the sky was littered millions and millions of stars and intermingled with the wide array of colors belonging to several nebulas and far off galaxies. One of the fantastic things about living in the realm eternal: the views.

Loki was lying back on his bed, creating a blue flame in his hands and disappearing it, over and over again; looking rather bored. It was a random little trick he'd mastered years before, and could do in his sleep. He was dressed in no more than a simple pair of pants and a green tunic, the color of emeralds. His bare feet were flat against his mattress as he propped his knees up.

"Brother!" came Thor's brusque and sudden voice as he barged right into the room, startling Loki, who's blue flame quite literally jumped out of his hand and onto the bed, nearly causing the blanket beneath him to catch on fire.

Loki smacked the flame out with the palm of his hand and then glared up at Thor. "Must you barge in here like a bilgesnipe?"

"Why, were you having some special alone time?" Thor laughed, gripping one of the posters of Loki's canopied, four-poster bed. "Sorry to interrupt."

"No, I was not…doing that," Loki nearly paled. Thor could be so frustrating at times, though he still loved him just the same.

"No, I suppose you weren't, otherwise you would be in a more jovial mood."

Loki just stared at him. "What do you want, Thor?"

"Firstly, to know why you are being so dreary."

"I am not being dreary, I have simply been lost in thought."

"Thinking of what, pray tell?"

"Well, if you must know: Sigyn."

"Our cousin?"

"Is there another Sigyn you know of?"

Thor made a face. "I know you have missed her these many years; she has been your closest friend since we were practically sucklings."

"She has been, yes."

"Well, there is no reason to merely think about her anymore. I have it on good authority the ladies Sigyn and Sif, amongst others, are set to return tomorrow. There's to be a feast in their honor."

"Their training is finally over? This good authority of yours…did it tell you if Sigyn is going to continue on as a Valkyrie or not?" Loki knew that if she did, he definitely wouldn't see her as much as he'd like. She would have a new, important life to lead.

"This I do not know," Thor shrugged. "You may ask her tomorrow when she returns, what her decision is. But tonight, I request thy presence."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "What for?" he asked cautiously, standing up.

"You are to join the other men and me for some festivities."

An eyebrow raised, Loki asked, "Do these festivities include your usual many rounds of mead and lovely women?"

"Are there any other kind of festivities?"

Loki smirked, rolling his eyes with a laugh. "I await the day you finally evolve."

"Why, you—" Thor muttered with a grin before lunging playfully at Loki, only to fall flat on his face when Loki disappeared, only for the real Loki to emerge from behind him, laughing.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?"


	7. Welcome Home

* * *

 

"My daughter!"

Sigyn glanced up at the mezzanine in her family home where she saw her mother glancing down at her with a smile on her face, her arms open and completely oblivious to the simple fact that Sigyn's opinion of her hadn't changed in the years she was away training. Sigyn stood still, only her eyes moving as she followed her mother who came down the staircase; the skirt of her glorious chiffon dress of turquoise and gold embellishments trailing behind her.

"Milady," Sigyn replied blandly, not forgetting the request her mother had made of her before sending her off for training. As Freya stepped forward to pull her daughter into a rather tight embrace, Sigyn didn't completely return the gesture; she more just stood there, letting it happen.

Not a moment after they parted, two young girls with the fairest blonde hair came running down the grand staircase, all smiles. It was her little sisters, Hnoss and Gersemi. Gersemi, the younger, appeared to be as old as Sigyn had been when her father had been banished many a year prior. They came sidling up to their big sister, throwing their arms around her waist, and for the first time in possibly forever, Sigyn felt happy to be home. She felt loved. Her sisters seemed to have truly missed her and clearly looked up to her.

"I want to be a shield maiden just like you and mother someday," Gersemi squeaked. They were both adorable, lovely-looking girls, but there was something more special about Gersemi in Sigyn's eyes. Maybe it was that she saw a little more of herself in the girl. Hnoss seemed to be the most like their mother; there was something prideful and calculating in her bright, cat-like eyes.

"If that is what you wish for yourself, may you be so lucky to make that choice on your own."

Either missing the double meaning in that sentence, or simply ignoring it altogether, Freya placed a hand upon her eldest daughter's shoulder and gestured to the staircase before them. "You must be weary from all your training and your travel home. Come. Let us have a luxurious, warm bath drawn for you and get you into some more sociable clothing. There is to be a feast tonight in honor of all you returning ladies and your accomplishments in your training. You will need to rest up, take a nap beforehand if you wish."

"I think I'll have that bath later. I'd like to take a walk first…"

Freya nodded, understanding. "Of course. It has been so long since you have been home; you need to get your bearings." Freya smiled, and Sigyn couldn't be sure how genuine it was. Deep down, she wished it was. Nay, hoped. "Your sisters and I will leave you to your walk then. I'll have your handmaid bring your belongings up to your room; it's just the way you left it."

As Freya wrangled Hnoss and Gersemi, leaving Sigyn momentarily alone at the base of the grand staircase, Sigyn exhaled a deep breath and took in her surroundings. Nothing had physically changed, if only everything seemed a bit smaller, but that was probably due to her being older and taller than she had been when she first left. She watched as a young woman who must be her handmaid appeared and grabbed her belongings, bid her hello and disappeared up the staircase with everything. Still, Sigyn remained where she was. But, slowly, she began to move around to the side of the staircase, looking around at the suits of armor on display, the paintings and tapestries draped on the high walls. She was so focused on remembering every detail that she hadn't seen the rather short person coming her way and running right into him.

She stopped in her tracks and, on instinct from her years of training, reached for her sword, which was still at her side. She didn't unsheathe it, but was prepared to.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Iwaldi."

"The dwarf," Sigyn remarked. She'd heard his name before. He was one of the dwarves Loki had approached about getting new hair for Sif years ago.

"Clearly," he replied, a little amused.

"What is it you are doing here?"

"I live here."

Sigyn narrowed her gaze down at him. "Does my mother know?"

"I should hope so," he smirked. "We are married, after all."

"Excuse me, what?"

"Did she not tell you? Yes, we married a short amount of time ago after she divorced your previous stepfather."

"She divorced Odr?" Sigyn didn't rightly care. She never really gave Odr a second thought when she lived under the same roof. "So, you're my stepfather now."

"Yes, but just call me Iwaldi. Don't bother with formalities."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Yes, well…welcome home. I shall see you at the feast tonight." He gave her a pleasant, if not reserved, smile and moved past her to go about his way, leaving Sigyn somewhat perplexed over the interaction they just had.

 

* * *

 

A rather warm, gentle wind drifted by, fluttering Sigyn's hair around her face as she walked just outside the walls of the City of Asgard, toward the same set of woods from her youth where she had bonfires and swimming parties with the others. Birds were chirping (she was sure one of them was one of Odin's ravens), and the midday light was filtering in through the trees, making the overall scenery look pristine and magical. She grabbed a long twig off the ground and used it to knock back branches from low-hanging trees and other shrubbery as she forged her own way through the woods, trying to remember how to reach the lake.

The moment she heard the rustling of water coming from the waterfall, she knew she was close and followed the sound, reaching it in moments. But, before she could completely take in and enjoy the sight, she was caught off guard by the sight of a young couple, half-dressed, snogging on the ground, arms and legs tangled together quite haphazardly.

Sigyn let out a tiny gasp of embarrassment for happening upon the scene and immediately made to hurry away, but the male sensed someone there and lifted his head, much to his own shock and embarrassment.

"Sigyn?"

She stopped, slowly turning back to look upon whom it was. The voice, all too familiar, wafted into her hears like a lovely melody. She glanced down to find it was Loki, shirtless, his usually slicked back black hair completely tousled and unruly, a few love bites covering his neck and chest. Slight color reached his face as he pulled himself up off the ground to stand, grabbing his tunic to cover the front of his trousers which were almost hanging completely off his hips. His face was almost entirely beat red and the girl he was with seemed oblivious to the awkward situation suddenly falling between the old friends.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was here," she muttered, trying not to look directly at him for fear her eyes would wander elsewhere.

"You're back," he spoke, a tone of happiness evident in his voice.

"I am, just arrived this morning."

In her peripheral vision, Sigyn could see the other girl clamber to her feet, rather gracelessly. Sigyn looked upon her, dressed in a flimsy, nearly see-through chemise, her hair just as tousled as Loki's, if not more so. She smiled at Sigyn who barely returned the gesture.

"I'm glad you're back. I've missed you." He took a step forward and the girl at his side followed him in step.

Sigyn frowned slightly and looked him in the eye. "Well, it would seem you haven't been languishing in loneliness while I've been gone these last years."

"Oh," he uttered, glancing down at the girl with him. He almost grimaced, seeing her there, looking up at him like an obedient puppy dog. "Uh, yes…this is Neri; she's one of my mother's, uh…handmaidens," he introduced, lamely.

Neri smiled and gave a jovial wave. "Hello."

"Hello," Sigyn repeated.

"Neri, this is my cousin and best friend, Sigyn."

"Oh, yes…Loki told me all about you."

"Oh, he did, did he? Good things, I hope."

"Only the best," he assured.

"So, uh…you two are courting?" For whatever reason, a part of Sigyn's heart began to ache. She wasn't sure why she was feeling the beginning pangs of jealousy in seeing Loki with another girl. Maybe she was afraid, in her absence, he had found a new best friend. With benefits, as it would appear.

Neri snorted with laughter. "Us? Pfft, no. We got talking at a party Thor had last night and we had a bit too much mead, or at least I did, anyway. One thing led to another and I just had to have my hands all over this one," she explained, briefly tickling Loki's side.

Annoyance appeared on his face as he looked down at Neri once more, trying to subtly and politely push her away.

"Yes, uh…Thor has become well known for holding raucous festivities. The flow of mead and music seems quite never-ending." He smiled a little; that shy, charming smile she had always remembered and cherished.

"Ahh." She didn't know what else to say.

The three of them stood around, awkwardly, not saying anything for what felt like the longest time, until Neri spoke up.

"So, the feast tonight…it's for you?"

Sigyn looked at her. "Not just for me. The other ladies who have completed shield maiden training."

"So, you can go off to fight battles with the men now? How strange."

"If I wanted to, yes."

Loki noted the tone of her voice had a hint of reluctance. He cocked his head a little to the side and narrowed his gaze. "Is it not what you want?" He wasn't sure if it was anymore; after all the years apart, her wants and ideals might have changed from when he last saw her.

"No, it's not what I want. You know that."

"I did, yes." Then he corrected himself, "I do."

Neri began to wrap her arms around Loki's waist, looking up at him like she wanted to devour every inch of him and Sigyn began to feel very uncomfortable. "I should…go." Sigyn turned to walk away.

"Uh, wait…"

She looked over her shoulder to see Loki retrieve his arm from Neri and walk up to her and suddenly the proximity to him, bare-chested and covered in both a sheen of sweat and love bites, sent a wave of new feelings coursing through Sigyn's veins. The feeling tingled in her from head to toe, her breath got caught momentarily in her throat and she was sure her cheeks were tinged with slight pinkness.

"I'm glad you're home, Sigyn," Loki spoke quietly, out of ear range of Neri. He looked Sigyn in the eye and smiled ruefully. "It hasn't been the same without you." Despite his tunic still in his hand, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug, trying to be as subtle as possible when he inhaled her scent. His green eyes closed for a moment and just relished in holding her close.

Casually, a smile found its way to Sigyn's lips. "I'm glad to be home, too," she concurred, bringing her arms up to hug him back. She placed her head on his shoulder and caught Neri glaring at her. When they pulled away, Sigyn smiled up at Loki and pushed a rogue lock of hair out of his face. "I really should get going now. I have to get ready for the feast tonight."

Loki nodded. "Yes, of course. I'll, uh…I'll see you there." Before she could fully walk away, he reached out and grabbed her hand while looking her in the eye. "Save me a dance."

It felt like a shock of electricity sparked at his touch. Sigyn looked down at their hands and then back up at him. She nodded. "Sure." With one more smile, she bid Loki and Neri adieu, leaving the pair alone, lakeside.

As soon as Sigyn was out of sight, Neri went to reach for Loki again, biting her lip in a mischievous manner, but he merely shrugged her off.

"Damn it, will you stop clinging to me like a leech? I am not your betrothed or your lover. We had one night," he all but growled. "You completely embarrassed me in front of Sigyn."

Neri scoffed and shoved him slightly. "Brute," she called him. "She's only your cousin. It's not like _she's_ the lover." Then she paused, watching his face. "Or is it you _want_ her to be?"

"What?" Loki played it off as if she were crazy. "Nonsense. She's just my best friend."

"No, no, no…you want to bed her, don't you?" Neri's face lifted as if she had just discovered the greatest treasure in all the nine realms.

Loki began to seethe and turned to face Neri as gracefully as a cat falling from a high ledge to land easily on all fours. Without any hesitation, he grabbed Neri by the face and glowered at her. "You will not say anything further about this, am I understood?" Slowly, she nodded; a bit of fear in her eyes. "If I even hear the slightest murmur of this, a hint of a rumor spread, I will know it was you, and there is no rock, no world you can escape from to hide from me."

Neri, quickly, jerked her face away and stumbled back from him, scowling and huffing. "You are insane, Loki Odinson. I don't know what it is I ever saw in you!" She grabbed for the dress she had been wearing the night before, as well as her shoes, and began to scurry away. "Do not come near me again!"

Loki watched her go and, while a part of him was surprised by his sudden, menacing outburst, another part of him reveled in the fear he could inflict. He smirked. But when he looked down at his hand, the hand that had grabbed Neri, he reconsidered the reveling in fear part. He suddenly felt a pang of remorse and wondered if she would tell about what he'd just done to her, or if Heimdall, who saw everything, had seen. Not to mention, his father's ravens.

Frowning, he muttered out loud for most likely no one but himself to hear, "Sorry."


	8. The Dance

* * *

 

Music was ubiquitous, as was the food, dancing and laughter. There were so many people in the Great Hall that one would assume it was for an occasion fitting one of Odin's sons, not mere ladies of the realm who had successfully completed shield maiden training. There were incredibly long tables, draped in white linens and covered with copious amounts of fruits, meats, pastries; basically any sort of food fit for a festive occasion. Those dancing looked like differently colored pieces of paper, scattered in the wind. There did not seem to be an unhappy face anywhere in sight; it was an overall enjoyable time to be had.

As the guests of honor began to trickle in, applause could be heard by most of the guests who weren't preoccupied with conversation, dancing or eating. Gudrun, probably the fiercest of all the new shield maidens, seemed the most loving of the attention bestowed upon her. She was eating it all up. Then there was Sif, who seemed pleasantly proud of herself as well as gracious to the fanfare. The other ladies were just as gracious; simple nods of their heads here, smiles and thank yous there. And they looked exceptionally beautiful, bedecked in their finest gowns and jewelry; not a hair out of place. It was quite a one-eighty from how they had all looked just a day earlier, fighting off those male opponents in their last drill.

Loki was seated and leaning back on the steps that lead up toward Odin's throne with a drink in his hand and a smirk on his face as he watched Thor, but a few feet away, chatting up Sif; his large hand just barely touching the small of her back. It was a funny dance between the two. They had been friends as long as Loki had been friends with Sigyn, and they were clearly attracted to one another, but neither one ever made a move. Thor never seemed to have a problem bedding a lovely lady, or simply flirting, but when it came to Sif, he held her at arm's length, as if she was one he would treat with more respect, well above the others. And at this rate, it would be a thousand years before the pair came to terms with their attraction and acted on it.

The merrymaking was in full swing when Sigyn finally arrived, fashionably late. Loki had seen her earlier in the day, as awkward as the situation had been with Neri there, and she had looked still as lovely as ever, if rather simple in her tunic, trousers and boots she had worn home from her training. But now, as she entered the Great Hall, it was the first time this large an amount of people had seen her in a long while. Loki could feel the wave of murmurs sweeping over the guests as they saw her and how she'd changed.

When Loki finally caught sight of her, he suddenly sat up at attention, nearly spilling his drink in his lap. His eyes, as well as the eyes of most the men in the Hall, practically popped out of his head. His breath hitched, his mouth went dry and his heart jumped into his throat. As his eyebrows knitted upward, he felt like he was truly seeing Sigyn for the first time in his entire life.

With each sashay of her hips as she walked, the green silk of Sigyn's dress showed off her now womanly curves. Her breasts were fuller, her body more lean and toned, her skin so fair, and her lips full and reddened with rouge. She had her long, dark hair swept up off her neck and she wore a look on her beautiful face that suggested she was realizing the effect she was having on the men present. Her light green eyes scanned the crowd, smiling demurely at those who stopped her to wish their congratulations on her training success and for her to utter, no doubt, a gracious thank you.

For a brief second, Loki even saw Thor take a second glance. Freya was standing off to the side, with Frigga, looking on with pride at how her unruly eldest daughter, who had been fonder of magic and climbing trees as a child with Loki, had blossomed into probably the most beautiful young woman in the entire realm. Not that it wasn't to be expected. Sigyn was, after all, the daughter of the Goddess of Love, Fertility and _Beauty_. It would've been unnatural for Sigyn to have been anything other than beautiful. And even though, to Loki, she had always been pretty, he now saw just how beautiful she really was. Now, she stole his breath away. Now, she made him weak in the knees and, was he not already seated, his legs would've probably given out from underneath him.

Slowly, he forced himself up and passed his nearly empty glass of wine off to a passing servant. He was about to make his way up to Sigyn, to take her up on the dance he had asked her to save for him, when Fandral seemed to appear from out of nowhere. He smiled at her, bowed gentlemanly and offered her his hand, obviously for a dance. Sigyn smiled sweetly and accepted. Loki just stood there, watching the pair move to the center of the Great Hall where the dancing was taking place. He watched how beautiful they were together, talking and smiling together as they moved like they were made for dancing with each other.

Loki silently fumed. A pang of jealously was boiling in the pit of his chest. There was something dark and cruel deep, deep down that felt the need to rip Fandral in two with his bare hands and he couldn't understand where the hostility was coming from lately, so he once again swallowed it back, and buried it away. He took a steadying breath, pursed his lips and tried to focus his attention elsewhere.

"You are by far the most beautiful woman in the entire Hall, if not the realm," Fandral spoke to Sigyn, who simply flashed him a coquettish expression.

"Flattery, again, I see."

"Nay, 'tis the truth."

Sigyn just giggled and leaned into Fandral. She had forgotten just how handsome he was; his good looks completely catching her off guard. And when he smiled, she became a little lost in his eyes. She couldn't help giggling some more.

"I am sure you could have your pick of any man here and they would willingly fall at your feet if given the chance," he continued to flatter.

"That is a nice thought," she remarked, trying to picture every man in the Great Hall kneeling before her. It brought a sparkle of mischief to her eyes.

As they danced on, everyone else seemed able to finally pull their eyes away and continue with what they were doing before Sigyn arrived and interrupted their thought processes.

Except Loki.

He had moved over to a servant pouring fresh cups of wine and grabbed a new one for himself, downing it in one gulp and then weaving almost catlike through the crowd of attendees. His eyes were almost always focused on Sigyn. He passed another servant and grabbed a glass of whatever beverage was on the tray he was carrying. Loki sipped it this time and winced initially before downing the rest. It was mead; Thor's drink of choice, thus stronger.

Finally, after two whole dances together, Sigyn appeared to be parting ways with Fandral and Loki saw his chance. He pushed someone aside; not too rough, but not exactly gently either. He walked out to the dance floor and immediately caught Sigyn's eye.

"Sigyn," he spoke firmly with a hint nerves bundled in his voice. His green eyes implored her green eyes, hoping she could sense he wanted to dance with her before he verbally expressed it. "May I have this next dance?"

She looked at Fandral who had already begun to retreat, smiled endearingly at him, and then back to Loki with just as endearing a smile. " _Please_ ," she commented, hinting at him to be a bit more well-mannered.

"I said 'may I,'" he replied, swooping one arm around her waist without a moment's hesitation. His free hand took a hold of hers and he pulled their bodies close as the song that was already being performed by the musicians played on.

Sigyn stared his face up and down and instantly moved with him about the dance floor. She may have felt the girlish butterflies in her stomach where Fandral was concerned, but with Loki it felt as if a stampede of horses were running around. Her chest felt flush and she could feel the warmth rising to her face. There was barely a centimeter of space between them and it was like static energy was keeping them bound. Even her fingertips were tingling; it was that heady of a feeling.

And she wasn't alone.

Loki could feel his heart pounding in his chest; he could hear the pounding in his ears. "You're breathtaking, Sigyn," he whispered, staring at her lips.

"You're…" She wasn't sure what she was going to say. Her brain lapsed for a moment.

An impish smile flickered at the corners of Loki's lips. "I know it was awkward this afternoon. I'm sorry for that."

"You do not need to apologize. We are adults now. There is nothing saying you can't sew your wild oats with whomever you want." She looked up from staring at his lips to look him in the eye, tilting her head slightly to the left. "I hope you don't feel you have to get my permission first."

 _I want you_ , he thought loudly in his head. "Of course not," he remarked with a forced chuckle.

Sigyn subconsciously licked her bottom lip as the musicians began to play a more up-tempo song. She had taken dance lessons in her youth, as most of the upper families did, to help teach grace and fluidity of the body's movement. Loki was also once such youth to learn. He and Thor had had interesting lessons with their dance tutors growing up; mostly because Loki, with a more lithe body, seemed better built for the skill than the larger, bulkier Thor, who used to lumber through the steps like a gorilla. Loki was able to twirl and dip Sigyn, where the danced allowed, and his hips swayed and moved in time with hers; him leading, her following.

After one such dip, he snapped her back up; her chest instantly pressed against his, and heaving from simple breath and also the excitable nerves wracking through her body. As their faces neared closer, their noses practically touching, both remembered where they were and tried to focus on just dancing and nothing more.

Freya had left Frigga's side by that point to mingle with her new dwarf husband Iwaldi and other guests, most likely to pride over her daughter. Odin, in all his larger than life regality, sidled up beside his wife to take in the sight of the festivities.

Looking over her shoulder at him, Frigga nudged his arm gently. "I have a feeling there is more than a feeling of friendship between those two," she deduced.

"Between whom?"

Frigga gave a simple nod of her head in the direction of Loki and Sigyn; the chemistry between them as obvious as a house engulfed in flames. Odin settled his left eye upon his youngest son and niece.

"They do make a beautiful couple. They would give us gorgeous grandchildren."

Odin turned his head and just stared at his wife with his only eye. "You know it cannot be permitted as long as the realm believes Loki to be our blood son," he whispered for her ears only.

"Maybe," Frigga said. "But what is the harm? Even in the eyes of the realm, they are only cousins, and her father, your brother, isn't even a part of this realm anymore. It is like she is no longer your niece and strictly of Freya only. Surely we could allow—"

"No, Frigga. We cannot. They will have to contain whatever it is they may or may not feel for each other and, in time, find another to make a marital bed with."

"It is not like they are brother and sister, and we know they aren't related by blood—"

"And undo everything we've kept hidden up until now? No, I said. I will not have it." Odin was more authoritative with his wife that time, causing her to bite back anything further she might've wanted to say. "For the sake of the greater good of the realm—"

"We must sacrifice the happiness of our son? Because he is our son, no matter his parentage, and I do not know that I can stand idly by and watch his heart potentially break when we try and curb the feelings he most likely has for Sigyn. I cannot bear it."

Odin glanced at his wife, the mama bear defiance in her face; ready to fight for her children. It warmed his heart, but his steely resolve was steadfast. "Then we will wait," he spoke, his voice softening. "We will wait to see how their relationship unfolds. If it gets any closer, we shall have to put a stop to it."

"But surely there can be another way to distract them from one another? Perhaps we can find a worthy suitor for Sigyn who can love her and make her as happy as Loki clearly does." Frigga threw him a casual look over her shoulder at him. "As her uncle, you are her next male, blood relative with whom she is to look up to, to come to for guidance as she would her father were he still here."

"She has her stepfather."

"Whom she would've only met today. It feels like Freya goes through husbands like our Thor goes through mead and beautiful ladies."

Odin couldn't help but smirk briefly. "Another thing we must soon curb as well."

"Freya may be Sigyn's mother but she is not one to provide Sigyn with the constancy of a father figure. You must play that role. _You_ took her father from her; _you_ must step up and fill in the gap as much as needed."

"This does not help your defense in wanting Loki and Sigyn to have a happy life together, my love."

"I know, but if they cannot love together, then it is up to you to secure the best possible mate for each of them, as both their father and uncle, respectively, and as their king."

 

* * *

 

In the weeks and months that followed, Sigyn sat by as the ladies she had trained with went about their new paths in life. Gudrun went on to join the Valkyries as well as most others, one was putting off joining the Valkyries or remaining a shield maiden because she had just wed and wanted to start a family of her own first, and Sif had decided that becoming a Valkyrie wasn't for her. She believed that if she had been trained to fight like a man and to successfully fight them as well, she should be able to fight alongside them. Her angle was to be able to go off and train further and fight with Thor and his comrades.

Sigyn, however, lacked all of those ambitions, save for the marital part. She wanted to marry, have a home of her own, but there was no rush for her now. Things at her mother's home were actually better than she could've ever remembered and she chalked it up to her dwarf stepfather Iwaldi who was a very decent man and, Sigyn believed, a better husband for Freya than Odr had been.

She spent a lot of her time with her sisters, especially Gersemi who seemed to look up to her the most and wanted to learn shield maiden things, so Sigyn taught her a few combat tricks she had learned. When not with her sisters, Sigyn would read or write in her journal. Several of her entries dealt with Loki; their friendship, a few more advanced magic techniques he had learned in her absence and was trying to teach her and her taboo attraction toward him. But recently she had added more to her journal entries involving Fandral.

He had come to visit her very frequently at home, to go for walks with her or even share lunch together by the lake. She could sense he wanted more from her, where a commitment was concerned, but she was happy with the way things were at present. They were merely spending time together and it had been a good number of years away, so she wasn't about to jump into anything with Fandral, especially if they hadn't been all that close before she left for training.

But, he was handsome. Perhaps it was sheer vanity, but when she thought about it, that was probably her main reason for spending time with him. She saw how the other young women at court glared jealously at her when they saw Fandral the Dashing chatting her up or walking anywhere with her arm through hers. She loved that feeling she riled up in them. It gave her a sense of pride and accomplishment.

And then there was the time she spent with Loki, doing all the same things they did in their younger years and the same things she did with Fandral; walks, lunch by the lake. One of those differences was when she was at court with him instead of Fandral and those same girls who previously glowered were looking her way, she would snicker something mocking about them to Loki and he would laugh, both looking back at the young women with mischief in their eyes.

Loki was her best friend in every sense of the word and she knew she loved him, deep down, as more than that. It was beginning to become undeniable the more time passed; it was almost heart-wrenching. She couldn't picture anyone else being at her side for all of time. But, despite this, she still wasn't ready for what happened when Fandral finally asked her to officially become his betrothed. He stood across from her at the water's edge of the lake, offering her a ring. She didn't know how to respond and it wasn't something she wanted to give a yes or no answer to right away without some forethought. She told him as much, since it was such a big step, and he respected her wish.

And while she might have made the decision on her own, she was not planning on the reaction she received from Fandral's parents.

She did not know if Fandral, himself, had immediately gone home to tell them he was awaiting an answer to his proposal or if someone had found out, but his mother and father certainly did. It was that evening, when Sigyn was home. She heard voices in the drawing room, well after dinner had transpired, and she crept down the stairs to have a listen.

Sigyn crouched down onto one of the steps and gripped one of the rails to the marble bannister as she strained to hear. It was two voices, one man and one female, speaking heatedly with her mother and stepfather.

"We cannot allow this match to happen, Freya," came the female voice.

"And why the hell not? My daughter is as good a catch as any. She is, in fact, the most beautiful young woman in this entire realm, do you deny it?" Sigyn felt a swelling of pride. She had never heard her mother talk about her in such a way to others. "You will not find a better mate for your son."

"We do not deny her beauty, but it is not her beauty we are concerned about," spoke the male.

"What is it? She spends too much time with Prince Loki, is that it?" And there was the mother Sigyn knew.

"Nothing to do with that, either, although their close proximity during the celebratory feast for the shield maidens a few months back was rather questionable…"

"Whatever your problem with Sigyn, out with it!" she could hear her stepfather Iwaldi bark.

"It is the matter of her father, Vé 'Lodur' Borson, the traitor to this realm. We cannot allow our son to be forever linked in matrimony to the daughter of a known traitor. It is obvious how much more Sigyn is like her father than you, Freya, no matter how much you try to believe otherwise. No shield maiden training or enhancement of her beauty can change that. She is Sigyn Vésdóttir, Not Sigyn _Freyas_ dóttir. That will never change.

"How dare you!" Freya growled.

"You cannot think less Sigyn because of something her father did when she was but a child. She is still oblivious to his actions back then. She has never been told the details. You blame the child for the mistakes of the parent!"

Sigyn's heart jumped into her throat. It must be Fandral's parents who were speaking to Freya and Iwaldi.

"We are sorry, Freya; Iwaldi. But this is our decision. We have expressed it with our son and he understands where we stand. If he goes against our wishes and goes through with this betrothal to marry your daughter, he knows he will be our son no longer."

"You would disown your own son for who he chooses to love?" Iwaldi was really standing up for Sigyn and it made her happy to have a stepfather who thought so well of her and cared enough to put effort into being there for her.

"If your son still wants my daughter's hand, he will be most welcome into my home. He will not need you, he will have us," Freya snipped. "Now, if you will be so kind as to leave my home before we say anything further that will do greater damage."

Sigyn jumped to her feet and turned the corner from the staircase, hiding behind a pillar with her nerves frayed and her heart pounding in her ears. The doors to the drawing room swung open and a faire-haired couple stalked out. Sigyn stole a glance and, sure enough, they were definitely Fandral's parents. Freya stepped out of the room and gesture to the doorman to let Fandral's parents out and as soon as the main doors were closed shut, Freya flew into a tirade.

"The audacity of those fools!" she threw her hands up in the air. "How dare they come into my home and insult my daughter! Sigyn is not good enough for their precious Fandral? I say Fandral is not good enough for Sigyn!"

As completely overwhelmed she was with her mother's pride in her, Sigyn couldn't get past the feeling of rejection from Fandral's mother and father. Her brow knitted together and she bit her bottom lip, the weight of that rejection heavy on her chest. As a single tear stung at the corner of her eye, Sigyn wiped it away and stepped out from behind the pillar, long enough for Freya and Iwaldi to notice, but she didn't stop. She ran off in the direction of the servant's entrance on the other side of the estate and pushed through that door like, well, Thor. As soon as the night air hit her face, fresh tears sprang forward. She stopped long enough to hunch forward for a moment and begin to comprehend what to do and how to react.

And there, through the depths of her mind, only one clear image came to mind of where to be.

 

* * *

 

Loki was changing out of his day clothes into his nightwear, standing in his bed chamber in nothing more than his pants and a green, silk robe that hung open as he placed a book from his desk to his bed with the intentions of reading it before sleep. He was doing this more subconsciously as his mind was elsewhere, thinking of how he had literally sent his mind elsewhere earlier that day.

He had followed Sigyn and Fandral and, had overheard and seen his proposal of marriage to her, all the while grinding his teeth in frustration and slight fear. Fear of losing Sigyn to the insipidly 'dashing' friend of his much-beloved-by-all brother, Thor. He immediately sent a mental duplicate himself to Fandral's home, watched his parents sitting down for tea together. He watched them as an invisible reflection in the mirror above the fireplace and whispered into their minds of Fandral's intentions to marry Sigyn, daughter of Lodur. That was all he had whispered into their minds so that they would assume the thoughts were their own. He made no mention further of Sigyn's father or what he had done in the past. He would let it play out however it was going to play out. But he was hoping for a result that leaned in his favor, and that favor being no betrothal at all between Sigyn to Fandral.

As he stepped around his bed, he stopped; his back to the balcony doors. A smile began to spread to his lips as he casually turned around to behold Sigyn standing in the doorway. "You seem the only one able to sneak up on me," he muttered before noticing the sadness in Sigyn's eyes. His smile disappeared almost immediately. "What is wrong?"

Instead of answering right away, she hurried up to him, her hair bouncing around her shoulders, and threw her arms tightly around his waist. She began to cry softly against the smoothness of his chest and at the sensation of one of her tears rolling down his skin, Loki immediately realized what had happened and his guilt began to eat at him.

"What is it, Sigyn, which makes you so sad?" he implored.

"Fandral's parents paid my mother and Iwaldi a visit tonight," she whispered. "I overheard them talking."

"About what?"

"Fandral proposed to me this very afternoon, but I told him I needed time to think over an answer and he must have told them he at least proposed because, otherwise, how could they know?"

"What did they say to your mother and stepfather?" Loki was starting to feel a little angry. He sensed that whatever was said had hurt Sigyn's feelings, something he hadn't intended to happen when he manipulated the thoughts of Fandral's mother and father.

"That I was not worthy of their son, and they do not wish him to enter into marriage with the daughter of a known traitor!" she cried. Slowly, Sigyn raised her head and looked up at Loki. "I know people have always whispered behind my back because of who my father is, but to think less of me for whatever he did as if I am just as guilty? How can someone be so close-minded?"

Loki pursed his lips together, his guilt for his part in this fiasco quickly replaced by anger. He realized that whether or not he had been the invisible bird that told them about the pending betrothal or not, this would have been the reaction of Fandral's parents, regardless. This is how they really thought of Sigyn and Loki was infuriated.

"They have no right to think of you in such a way," he assured, bringing his arms to wrap around her just as tightly as she held onto him. "They are clearly too blinded by the sins of others to see the beauty and wonder that is you. I should have their hides for this hindrance. Whether or not your father was a traitor to this realm, they have thus insulted the niece of the All-father, their king! I cannot stand for this!"

Loki pulled away long enough to take a single step to the side, only for Sigyn to grabbed his hands and smile at him. His vehemence in wanting to defend her honor warmed her heart and made the sadness over the rejection that had been bestowed upon her much less.

"Loki, don't. It is useless, and will only exacerbate things further," she insisted. "I'd rather not think any more on this tonight. Your need to be my knight in shining armor has made me feel considerably better and I thank you." She reached up and placed the tips of her fingers against his temple.

 _You mean the universe to me, Loki_ , she whispered into his mind, a trick he had taught her many years before when they were but children.

He had forgotten he had taught her how to do that and stared at her with surprise at first, and then knitted his brow together with the overwhelming feeling of love he had for her; both platonic and more than that. His lips formed a smile, and his eyes sparkled with the fire light in his bed chamber's fireplace.

 _And you to me, my darling Sigyn_ , he thought back to her. He pulled her back up against him and enveloped her in a hug. _I only wish to see you happy_. Placing a kiss atop her head, he felt like he was where he should be; not in his room, but in her arms…with her.

She had that effect on him; she calmed his mind and soul. He ached to be more to her and for her, but the ramifications could be damning for both of them. Plus he wasn't even sure she felt the same way about him that he did about her. For now he was just happy to have her in any capacity at all.


	9. Forbidden Kisses

* * *

 

Since Sigyn's disastrous betrothal to Fandral that never was, her days were primarily spent with Loki, though that was not necessarily something new. Every morning she woke up and readied herself for the day which she knew would involve him in some aspect. They made their plans ahead of time and it usually kept her from falling asleep right away the night before; her mind reeling with so many thoughts about the enjoyable times they would have in each other's company. And on one such day, they decided to head down to the infamous lake of theirs and the others' collective youths, but this time, not just to swim, but to have a bit of an adventure.

They had talked about how the cavern behind the waterfall, on the north side of the lake, had always been a mystery to them. No one knew where it led, if it led to anywhere at all. Some say it was haunted by the spirits of the fallen Asgardians who had not been granted to rest eternally in Valhalla. Others said the most evil and vile creatures dwelled within, waiting for naïve and unsuspecting fools to venture beyond the watery curtain only to meet their doom. Although most laughed the theories off and claimed them to be just tall tales to scare children, there was still the superstition that pulled at everyone's minds. They had been told of those theories and stories for so long and so often, that it was hard to believe there wasn't an ounce of truth to them.

But Loki and Sigyn had finally decided to swallow whatever latent fear resided in their hearts and minds, replacing it with excitement over the possibility of there being something amazing on the other side of the waterfall. So, bright and early on the day they chose to venture out, they told no one where they were going for fear that, for example, Thor might find out and want to join them. That was more Loki's fear. He wanted something of his own he could hold above his brother's head that said he had bested the glorious Thor at something for once; for there to be something Loki overshadowed Thor with rather than the other way around.

The only way to the waterfall was to swim to it, as there was no direct access. Shedding the outer layer of their clothes once they reached the lake's watery edge, they looked at each other as they walked into the lake, one step at a time. Loki looked to his right, Sigyn standing there in a short chemise she had been wearing under the tunic-style dress she had been wearing not moments before. It barely covered her ass and he had to force himself not to stare. Dragging his eyes to the waterfall about one hundred yards across the lake to the northwest of where they were standing, he bit his bottom lip and inhaled a deep breath, just as he felt a hand envelope his. He looked down once more and saw it was Sigyn squeezing his hand with her own. She looked up at him with a smile.

"Ready?" was all she asked him.

Loki nodded and smiled. "Yes. Do you have your dagger?"

Sigyn lifted the right side of her chemise and turned her body slightly to reveal a dagger strapped to her right thigh. "Of course. Do you have yours?"

Loki simply gave a flick of his left hand and a dagger appeared in his palm. "Yes."

Sigyn smirked. "Tricky, tricky."

"Would you expect anything less?" Loki grinned as he flicked his hand again, and instead of the dagger falling into the water from the gesture, it disappeared.

The both of them looked back toward the waterfall and slowly they waded through the water until it was more than waist deep on them. They released each other's hand and leaned their bodies forward to begin the swim across the rest of the lake. Exerting oneself physically was no problem for an Asgardian, so the trek through the water was fairly easy and quite lovely. Loki and Sigyn even paused in their "mission" to splash each other a few times, thereby completely soaking each other with water, where their heads had been previously dry.

As they reached the waterfall, larger rocks appeared from parts of the cliff above that had eroded and dislodged, falling to the lake below possibly centuries earlier. Loki reached one such boulder first and scaled it, to get to the part of the cliff face that had a bit of a slippery rock ledge to walk upon in order to get behind the watery curtain. He remained crouched though as he turned enough to give Sigyn a hand and help her up and when they were both standing on the same boulder; they looked at the rushing water, its mist covering them with a slick sheen of a million droplets. He glanced at her and her at him before they wordlessly continued onward.

Sigyn hopped to another boulder and Loki made a leap to reach the watery ledge, gripping at a groove in the rock wall as not to slip and fall backward. And before Sigyn could react, Loki had slipped behind the waterfall.

She frowned at how lithe he had been in his movements, like a snake slithering effortlessly on the ground. "No fair!" she laughed enviously just as his hand reached out and grabbed hers. He pulled her behind the curtain in the swiftest of gestures.

Sigyn was able to refrain from stumbling as she found herself inside the entrance of the cavern. It was dimly lit from the light filtering through the water surging behind them, but the further in they tried to peer, the darker it became. They couldn't tell if the cavern continued on, or if it was nothing more than a cave. Loki, instinctively, pulled her closer to him with the innate sense of needing and wanting to protect her from whatever loomed ahead.

"I cannot believe we actually did this, that we're inside," Sigyn beamed. She gripped his forearm and tried to venture deeper in but Loki pulled her back.

"Wait," he muttered, turning the palm of his hand upward and forming a ball of green, wispy light. Sigyn released his arm so that he could summon a flameless torch in his other hand. Casually, he placed the wispy ball of green light upon the torch and it began to blaze with green fire. He held it out in front of them, casting dancing shadows upon the cavern walls. He took her hand once more and slowly but surely they began to walk toward the unknown.

"Do you think we'll find anything?" she wondered.

"Probably just the bones of rodents or possibly men who have ventured here before us and not survived to tell the tale," he replied, throwing an impish smirk her way.

Sigyn swatted at his shoulder. "Oh, stop."

All he did was laugh in return.

As they continued to walk, it felt like a millennia had passed; the cavern seemed never-ending or maybe it was the fractured light messing with their perception. Finally, the reached what appeared to be an open area that was large like a throne room. Up above was a considerable amount of sunlight shining through a hole in what looked to be a canopy of vines and moss. It was light enough to see their surroundings but Loki chose to keep his torch with him.

"Is that…a bed?" he heard Sigyn question.

He turned toward the direction she was speaking of and, sure enough, there appeared to be a makeshift bed made out of straw, dry-rotted linen and some leaves. Off to the side was an abandoned fire pit with residue from a fire gone by.

"Do you think someone lived here?"

"Looks like it," Loki replied. "But clearly not for some time."

Sigyn stepped toward the makeshift bed and kicked at the edge of it and some dust billowed up, then cascading back onto the linen and to the ground. "A long time," she spoke, craning her neck to glance at the canopy above; a large enough ray of sunlight surrounding her and giving her a sort of glow.

Loki took notice, watching how she raised her chin upwards, elongating her neck; the sunlight glistening on her damp skin from lake's water and the waterfall's mist. Each damp strand of her hair shined like onyx and clung to the back of her neck and her chemise did the same to her body. Each curve was accentuated, every dimple slightly more noticeable. His green eyes grew darker with lust despite his best intentions. He just couldn't tear his gaze from her. She was just too breathtaking a creature to behold.

After a few moments, Sigyn could sense he was looking at her and she turned to look back at him. He was still somewhat in the shadows of cavernous room. But she could see the glimmer in his eyes from the torch in his hands, giving his skin a green hue. Neither spoke; they just stared at one another and, for what seemed to be the first time, they were on the same wavelength.

 _You look fantastic right now_ , he thought to her; verbal words, unnecessary.

Sigyn raised an eyebrow. _Only now?_

_All the time._

Loki stepped forward, giving the torch a shake and causing the entire torch, flame and all, to disappear. The closer he got to Sigyn, the more the cavernous room seemed to lose air. The temperature also felt like it rose considerably; the dampness upon their skin was no longer from the water but from their own perspiration. He lifted a hand and placed it upon the curve of her hip, dragging his fingertips precariously upward to her waist and higher. It felt like electricity was surging between them as soon as he made contact with her. To make matters worse, her body betrayed her when it reacted; goosebumps appearing all over her skin. As he slid his hand behind her back, he slowly began to pull her closer to him and she just went with it. Sigyn tilted her head up toward him and lifted a hand of her own to place upon his tunic-covered chest. Loki's other hand lifted to cup the side of her face; his thumb brushing over her bottom lip as he focused on not devouring her mouth without any warning.

But it wasn't himself he had to worry about acting impulsively. Sigyn's desire got the better of her and she grabbed a hold of the front of his water-soaked tunic and forced him to lean down more to her level, causing their lips to crash together for the first time in their entire lives. Loki's stomach did a flip within him and Sigyn's heart began to pound like a hundred drums in her ears. They pressed their bodies firmly against each other; his arms wrapped around her waist with one hand reaching down to grab the top of her ass while she gripped her hands around his neck. Their kiss deepened, their mouths opening to give access to tongues which dueled it out for dominance.

Their skin became flushed with color and slowly they made the move toward the makeshift bed without really realizing that's where they were headed. Loki lifted her slightly enough so that he could set her gently onto the lumpy material, hovering over her as she laid on her back, their lips separating for a moment. She looked up at him and smiled and he smiled back as he positioned his knees on either side of one of her legs. He propped himself up with his hands beside her shoulders, slowly leaning down to kiss her again.

First, he gently bit her bottom lip. Then, he placed his lips fully upon hers; letting his tongue slip between her lips and graze the fronts of her teeth before her tongue emerged and resumed the tussle for dominance with him. The entire time, as he leaned his body down against hers, she rose up to meet him, feeling the need to be as close against his body as physically possible.

Their eyes closed, reveling in the freeing sensation it was to finally have this between each other; something they had secretly been desiring for quite a long time.

_Loki._

His eyes fluttered open as he heard her say his name in his mind.

 _My beautiful Sigyn_.

Her eyes opened then, too, staring into his with a smirk. _Your beautiful Sigyn?_

_Yes. Always and forever mine._

All she could do was continue to smirk until he claimed her lips again; this time letting his hands roam up under her chemise. But the second the tips of his fingers made contact with the underside of her breasts, a raven cawed and flew out from one of the shadows in the large, cavernous room, startling both Loki and Sigyn.

Loki practically bolted upright, his eyes wide. He knelt and looked around to where the bird had flown to, both of them knowing at once what bird it was: one of Odin's.

" _Damn_ ," Loki growled.

Sigyn sat up, placing a hand to her stomach as she gathered her thoughts and wondered what this meant for them. Huginn or Muninn, whichever raven it was, would undoubtedly return to Odin in no time at all and tell him what had just transpired between the sexually frustrated pair. A disgruntled reaction from the All-father was inevitable.

"What do we do now?" Sigyn wondered.

The raven flapped its wings and appeared again, circling above them for a few moments, as if mocking their predicament, before flying higher to slip through the opening in the canopy of leaves and vines above the large, cavernous room. In a last ditch effort, Loki had grabbed one of the rocks that made up the circle that the long discarded fire pit was surrounded by, and chucked it upwards as high as he could throw it, as if it would somehow hit the raven to prevent it from telling what it had seen. With the gesture and obvious failure, Loki sank down from his kneeling position, his shoulders drooping considerably; feeling deflated and a little angry.

"There's nothing we can do," he finally replied. He looked her in the eye and raised his brow, allowing a rueful smirk to dance ever so slightly at the corners of his mouth which was still a little flushed and plump from the hungry kisses they'd shared. "But, seeing as we're probably going to receive hell for our actions, what's the point in stopping now?"

Sigyn narrowed her gaze at him and couldn't help but smirk back at him. "If your father doesn't kill us, my _mother_ will. She cannot stand you," Sigyn snickered.

"I feel like, in this situation, because of who we are, that if it were Thor you were here with, everything would be swept under the carpet, quickly forgiven and forgotten with nary a slap on the wrist." Loki was starting to feel a little bitter and a frown slowly crept its way onto his face, but before it could overcome him, Sigyn reached her hands out to him and cupped both sides of his face.

She knelt before him, looking down into his eyes and smiled reassuringly into them. "Stop comparing yourself to him. I like that you're different. That's what makes you amazing." She leaned in and pressed her lips to his once more; it just felt right.

" _You_ are amazing," he whispered into the warm cavity of her mouth.

Taboo relationship be damned, Loki promised himself he would find a way to love this woman properly. Right now, he was content in just kissing her.

"We should probably make our leave of this place," Sigyn begrudgingly suggested, forcing herself to pull away from him.

He was nearly breathless, looking upon her with love- and lust-filled eyes. "Must we?"

"I think whatever punishment your father might hand out to us for this…transgression…it will be less horrible if we do not dally and make an expeditious attempt to return. Maybe it'll be regarded as we have seen 'the error of our ways' or something to that effect."

Loki chuckled a bit at how she tried to manipulate the reasoning. "I think you have been spending way too much time with me, my darling."

Just then, a second raven fluttered out of the shadows and swiftly flew up through the canopy.

Loki rolled his eyes and growled once more in frustration. "You have _got_ to be kidding me!"

 

* * *

 

The first thing Loki and Sigyn did after leaving the cavern and swimming back across the lake was to try and dry off with the towels they'd left for themselves, draped over a branch near the water's edge. After throwing their outer clothes back on, they made the trek through the forested area, holding hands and trying not to smile like complete loons at each other. The moment the shrubbery and trees became suddenly sparse, they released each other's hand almost simultaneously and walked separately in the direction of castle.

Up a hill they went and eventually onto the main road that led into the center of the City of Asgard where several guards stood vigil at the main entrance. Loki simply gave them a smile and a wave and they stepped aside for the young prince and the All-father's niece, the Lady Sigyn. As soon as they were within the castle walls, they scurried toward the Great Hall where Odin's throne sat, expecting it to be empty as they meant to simply pass through. They were quite surprised when they found Odin seated, one arm resting, outstretched, at his side, while the other arm was propped up to hold Gungnir.

The pair stopped immediately when they noticed him, and then bowed their heads obediently. They each spied the ravens, now perched on either side of the enormous throne. Loki smiled charmingly up at his father and took a step forward.

"Hello, father, we—"

But he was cut off by Odin sitting more upright and turning to face Loki more fully, his lips curling in what could only be described as subdued disappointment. "Silence," was Odin's brusque utterance.

Loki stepped back in line with Sigyn; just the tone of his father's voice felt like a slap in the face.

"It has come to attention that the two of you have been to the cavern behind waterfall just beyond the city walls."

"Yes, father—"

"I am not done speaking," Odin bit out. "I know what transpired and your actions were imprudent and cannot be tolerated. I cannot allow anything further to continue between you both." He looked over his shoulders to several of the guards standing watch and dismissed them.

Loki took the opportunity to glance at Sigyn who looked as nervous as he felt. He so desperately wanted to take her hand, hold it, and assure her he was there and everything would be just fine. But he couldn't. He knew such a gesture would quite possibly enrage his father.

"Father, I love—" Again, he was cut off when Odin stood up and growled something indecipherable at him.

"I do not care if this is some passing fancy!" he shouted more freely, knowing his guards were out of earshot. "She is your cousin and I forbid it."

"But plenty Asgardians have taken their cousins as mates!" Loki shouted back defiantly. "I _love_ her!" he emphasized. "Always have." He knitted his brow together; his lips parted as he stepped forward and looked pleadingly as his father. "Please, father: reconsider."

"Do not challenge me, boy!"

"I'm not," Loki insisted. "I'm merely pleading my… _our_ case."

"This relationship between you two, the direction it is headed, is ended. I will hear nothing more on it. And if you push me further, there will be consequences."

Loki felt the anger in him beginning to bubble in the pit of his chest. "Do you not even care about our feelings? Are you that heartle—"

" _Awwwrrraggghh_!" Odin growled, pointing a livid finger at his younger son.

"You, Loki, will be joining your brother Thor. You will be learning combat skills; no more of your dalliances in sorcery. You leave tonight."

"Wait— _what_?"

"Sigyn," Odin spoke, causing her to finally look up and make eye contact with her uncle. "You will be meeting with potential suitors. If you will not make yourself useful as a Valkyrie or a Shield Maiden, I will see you wed to someone of my choosing."

Sigyn's jaw dropped. Had she lost another chance to make any decisions for herself, once again? Why did everyone make her decisions for her? A few tears that had been stinging her eyes finally fell; rolling down her face in two perfect streams.

"Am I understood?" Odin questioned of her.

"Yes, All-father," she replied meekly.

Loki looked at her profile; his heart feeling as if it was being ripped from his chest. But he didn't want to give his father the benefit of the doubt. He didn't want to show any more emotion about the subject, so he bit his bottom lip, composed himself as best as he could and stared with defiant eyes straight ahead.

"You may go, Sigyn," Odin dismissed.

Obediently, Sigyn turned to leave, but not without throwing a heartbreaking glance at Loki. He turned his head, watching her figure sauntered away; her shoulders slumped in brokenhearted defeat. His fingers splayed out at their sides, yearning to touch her hand as she went but receiving no such contact. When he turned back to face his father, Thor had appeared, slightly oblivious to what had just gone down.

"What is the matter?" Odin's eldest son inquired, looking between his father and brother.

"When you leave tonight for Svartálfaheim, Loki will be joining you and the others. You will personally oversee he is up to speed with his combat skills and the art of war."

"Really?" Thor didn't care, but he was quite surprised. Up until then, Loki had been the homebody; Thor was the warrior. But this was good news to Thor who would relish in having his brother at his side while they did battle together.

"Yes," was Odin's reply; short and simple.

Thor walked up to Loki and slapped him on the back with a smile and a laugh. "Hah, this will be good times for us, brother!"

"If you say so," Loki replied. His expression was blank now; he had wiped all emotion from his face and felt no better than a voiceless puppet at the moment. He looked once more at their father, a single tear brimming at his eye before turning his head away and leaving the Great Hall with Thor, who seemed even more oblivious to his younger brother's aching heart than the entire scene he was late to happen upon.

On the outside he put forward a demeanor, cool as ice, but inside Loki was a fireball of rage suffocating and clawing to be free, but would remain shoved far down for a long time to come.


	10. Aches and Pains

* * *

 

There were at least a few dozen bildgesnipe running toward them as they stood, flanked together at the edge of a large canyon. Thor, Loki, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, as they had become known – Hogun, Fandral and Volstagg – were dressed in their battle armor, ready to stop the pulverization created by the unsightly creatures. They were all brandishing obvious weapons; Thor had his new hammer Mjolnir, Sif had her sword and shield, Hogun had his mace for bludgeoning, Volstagg had a two-sided axe and Fandral had his sword. That left Loki with none of those. He preferred to not get into thick of the fight if he could help it. The others could take the front line, he would bring up the rear, armed with his throwing knives and trickery.

He was the brain to their brawn; always thinking before he acted. He waited for the opponent to give hint to their first move before making one himself. And though he disliked, immensely, being torn away from Sigyn and forced to join his brother and friends on their adventures into small battles and other skirmishes, the one upside was that it became a scapegoat for his anger and frustration. He was able to take it out on whatever they were deduced to fighting at the time.

And right now it was bildgesnipe; the large, scaly beasts with enormous antlers that trampled anything in their path.

Thor led them all in the attack, running at the beasts, jumping high into the air and coming down on the head of one of the bildgesnipe with Mjolnir, virtually decimating its skull in a single blow. Thor could be heard chuckling amidst the thunderous stampede and the clanking of the others' weapons against the beasts they were trying to fight off.

Still, Loki remained further back, not directly in the fight. Behind his back, however, was a handful of throwing knives. He was eyeing a bildgesnipe that was charging toward him and before it could get any closer, Loki threw one of those throwing knives right into the bildgesnipe's jugular. Loki quickly jumped out of the way as the beast let out an angered groan and fell face first into the ground and slid the rest of the way, only inches from where Loki was standing.

He looked down at the creature, taking in its massive antlers that curved backward. With great trepidation, the younger son of Odin stepped closer to inspect. The beast groaned some more, whether in agony or as a defensive response to Loki's proximity was unknown. Loki braved the gesture in reaching his hand out to touch one of the antlers and as he did so, the beast groaned once more, but it was more obvious it was just in agony. Loki knitted his brow together, starting to feel bad for the beast as it lay there injured and bleeding profusely from its neck. As Loki gripped his throwing knife sticking out of the bildgesnipe's neck, he was moments away from just pulling out and letting it die in peace when he heard Thor's voice shouting out to him.

"Finish the kill, brother! Do not let these beasts get the better of us!"

Loki looked toward Thor who was practically neck deep in slain bildgesnipe. He let out a huff of breath and gripped the throwing knife a bit firmer and without provocation, jammed it deeper into the beast's throat until his entire fist was inside the beast. The gurgling sound the expelled from the beast's mouth was quite unnerving when Loki removed his hand which was covered in the rather cold, slick blood. Loki grimaced, shaking his hand free of the blood as he looked up just in time to see another bildgesnipe coming right for him.

Before he could react, Sif came out of nowhere and severed the beast's head clean off its body before it could do harm to Loki, who ducked low to the ground as the headless body went flying off the edge of the cliff and fell down into the canyon below. The head rolled a bit till it came to a stop beside the other bildgesnipe Loki had killed.

He looked at Sif who looked pretty pleased with herself.

"You're welcome," she remarked, smirking at him.

Loki feigned a smile though his nostrils flared slightly. "I could have easily had him."

"Of course you could," Sif replied, clearly not believing him. She waited not for any response as she turned and ran back toward the fight.

Loki just remained there, crouched on the ground, growing tired of this fighting but not wanting to be proved weaker than a girl. He jumped up to his feet and decided he would pull out all the stops. He growled as he ran forward a few feet and threw the remainder of his throwing knives at several of the bildgesnipe nearest him. One knife unfortunately got Fandral in the leg as he was practically riding one of the beasts in question.

Fandral the Dashing let out a yelp and removed the knife from his leg, sending Loki an infuriated look. "Watch where you throw those things, Odinson!"

Loki didn't bother uttering an apology, he just smiled. "I'm not the one riding my target like a horse!" he shouted back.

In the fray of it all, Loki suddenly became the target of many a bildgesnipe who felt the need to run at him all at once. However, they would not achieve their goal in attacking him, for as soon as they reached him, they went soaring off the edge of the canyon like the other before them. All the while, the real Loki was standing off to the side, calling off his double. But his cockiness in the trick got the best of him when he was suddenly blindsided the sharp point of an antler that stabbed him in the abdomen.

Loki was thrown back to the ground to writhe in pain and he screamed out. In an instant, Thor was there and annihilated the skull of the offending bildgesnipe. While the others finished off the remaining beasts, Thor knelt down to his younger brother to inspect the wound.

"Brother, how bad is it?" he asked, lowering a hand to where he saw the blood coming out of.

Loki, lying flat on his back, lifted his head to peer down at his abdomen, gritting his teeth through the pain. "Uh, I'll…live, I suppose," he huffed.

"Hogun!" Thor shouted. "Loki has been badly injured! We need to get him some healing!" Thor looked back down at Loki who was trying his best to be manly about his injury and not react as badly as he wanted to. "I saw it, brother. That bildgesnipe was coming right for you but you were not paying it any mind. You must be aware of your surroundings at all times in a fight like this."

"I was aware," Loki insisted through gritted teeth. "The damned thing just caught me off guard, is all."

Hogun appeared a moment later at their side. "Volstagg has the last of them. We can leave here shortly to return home to Asgard."

"Good," Thor spoke. "Help me carry my brother."

Loki felt mortified being treated as such, like some wounded pet. He was a man, a prince. He hated the feel of the others' eyes upon him; he could almost hear their mocking commentary in their heads, wondering why he was even there to begin with. Loki never wanted to be there to begin with. It was all Odin's decision and he was in no position to speak against his father.

When Volstagg, Sif and Fandral joined Thor and Hogun at Loki's side, it was Volstagg, the largest of all of them, who lifted Loki up into his arms, further mortifying the dark-haired prince.

"Heimdall!" Thor shouted skyward. "Open the Bifrost for us!"

 

* * *

 

Because of the pain caused by the bildgesnipe antler to his abdomen, Loki was a little disoriented when they all returned to Asgard. He barely remembered the sensation of being pulled through the Bifrost back to their home world. Volstagg still carried him but was propped onto Thor's horse with him for the ride back into the city, where he was at once taken to one of the healing rooms.

While there, his armor was peeled away along with his leather outerwear, then his green shirt was cut from his body as he lay upon a bed. He was looking up at the spired ceiling of the room, allowing his eyes to close as healing was administered to his wound. The voices of those around him fell to a dull murmur, using the time he was being healed for some much needed sleep; something of which he got little of while cavorting on the other realms for battles and combat anything with Thor and the others.

Sometime later he finally awoke; it could have been minutes, hours or days. He really knew not. He licked his lips and cleared his groggy throat, sitting up slowly and casting his long legs off the edge of the bed. As he gripped the edge of the bed with his hands, he hunched forward slightly and pressing his hand to where his wound was. Being bare-chested, he didn't need to lift a shirt to see it and wasn't surprised at all to see the wound was successfully healed, though a scar remained. He felt no more pain and could barely remember what it felt like.

Lithely, he slipped off the bed and sauntered over to where his armor and leather outerwear had been draped over a wooden chair. His green shirt was nowhere to be found. He didn't bother with the armor, leaving it there to be taken care of by someone else, but grabbed the leather jacket and threw it on in a gracefully swift movement. There was a strap that went from one shoulder to the opposite waist and a belt involved in the jacket but he left them undone, exiting the healing room with the jacket open.

The swagger in his walk was unmistakable as he walked through the halls and servants in the house of Odin bowed their heads to him as he passed. He paid them no mind however as he made his way toward his bed chamber, only to be stopped by the sound of Frigga from behind him.

"Oh, my son, I was just coming to check on you," she called out happily.

Loki turned and smiled upon her, allowing her to meet him halfway and then enveloping his mother in a hug. "Hello, mother," he greeted.

"You scared me," she whispered into his neck. "I thought you had fallen. I couldn't bear the thought of you being gone from our world for good."

"If I had, I would not have been far away. I'm sure falling in battle would garner me a place in Valhalla, especially as a son of Odin."

Frigga pulled back and placed the palm of her hand against his face, staring up into his eyes. "I would rather it was I who passed from this life first before you and your brother. A parent should not live to witness a child's death."

"I am not a child anymore, though."

"You are always my child."

Loki's heart swelled in his chest and he pulled his mother closer to press a kiss to her forehead. "I know, mother," he smirked. "Have no fear, though. I survived and was healed. I live to see another day at least."

"You will see many, many more. You have many centuries ahead of you yet."

Loki placed his arm out, offering it to Frigga for her to put hers through so that they might walk alongside each other. She graciously accepted the offer and leaned into him slightly. "Tell me, mother…" he began.

"Yes?"

"I need to know…" He looked at her and frowned a little. "How is Sigyn? Is she well? Has…has father found her a husband?"

Frigga felt her heartstrings being pulled as she met her younger son's gaze. She didn't bother beating around the bush; either way the answer she gave him she knew would not be happily received. "Yes, he has."

Loki blinked away threatening tears, pursed his lips and nodded solemnly. "Who has he chosen for her? Do I know him?"

"He is Theoric."

"I do not know a Theoric," Loki commented. "Is he a noble?"

"His family was Vanir as was Sigyn's mother's family was before the Vanir-Aesir War. He hails from Vanaheim and is quite valiant. He has trained in combat, though he not active as a warrior as, say, Thor is."

"No one is," Loki mumbled a little bitterly. "Is he handsome and dashing as well?"

"Loki, I would think you would be more concerned with whether or not Sigyn is happy?"

He cast his eyes downward and let out a sigh. "Is Sigyn happy?"

Frigga could only express a rueful smile. "She is happy enough," she replied. "He has been very lovely; he treats her with respect and dotes on her."

"Does he love her?"

"That I cannot say," Frigga shrugged. She watched as his shoulders fell and could tell his heart was aching. "My son, I know this is difficult to accept, but you must move past this. You will find someone else to love in time. You will find your own happiness."

"No, mother." Loki jerked his arm away from her, unapologetically. "If I cannot make Sigyn my bride, I will make _no_ woman my bride."

Without another word, he stormed away.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn was standing at the doors of her bed chamber's balcony, staring out at the night scenery before her. She was deeply lost in thought and never heard her mother enter in with a white gown draped across her arms.

"Come away from there, dear. I want you to see this," Freya spoke.

Snapping out of her reverie, Sigyn turned to look upon her mother, laying the dress out on her bed. "What is it?" she wondered.

"It is to be your wedding dress, of course."

Sigyn smiled gently and stepped over to her mother to inspect the material. She placed a hand over it, feeling it and appreciating its beauty. "It's gorgeous."

"It was mine."

"It was?"

Freya nodded. "I wore it when I married your father so long ago." She looked at her daughter's profile and pushed a few strands of dark hair behind her ears. "I thought it fitting that you should wear this particular dress. Your father will not be present to give you away, but at least you can wear the dress I wore the day I became his wife."

Sigyn lifted the dress up; it was white satin with a lace overlay, adorned with crystals and gold beads. It was exceptionally stunning. "Did you love him, my father, when you married him?"

"Yes, I did. He was a bit on the quiet side, a thinker and very noble of heart. He believed in equality amongst all the realms and argued with his brother, the All-father, Odin about such matters quite frequently. Odin was always the more strong-minded, headstrong brother, much like his son Thor." Freya watched her daughter's face. "I realize that is why you always liked Loki so much; he was just like your father; an intellectual instead of a fighter."

Sigyn didn't feel like speaking of Loki right now; it made her heart hurt. "Who will give me away, when I wed Theoric?"

"Iwaldi, I suppose, unless you would prefer someone else. Odin maybe?"

"Iwaldi will be fine. He is a wonderful stepfather."

Freya grinned. "I shall pass that along to him." She reached a hand out to stroke the material of her first wedding dress. "Do you want to try this on?"

"Not yet."

"Very well."

Sigyn looked at her mother. "I do not mean to dismiss you so abruptly, but would you mind terribly if I were left alone right now? I have a lot on my mind."

Freya patted Sigyn's arm. "Of course, my dear. Tomorrow is your big day, after all. You should get some rest." She stood up and placed a kiss upon her daughter's cheek before slinking out of the room.

When Sigyn was alone again, she pursed her lips together in frustration and tossed the dress to the bed and walked back toward the open balcony doors. She squinted slightly as she looked out in the direction of the palace, knowing that Loki was there. She had gotten word Loki, Thor and the others had returned a few days prior and Loki had been badly injured. She didn't know the extent his injury and it was driving her insane. She wanted and needed to know he was okay, but no one would tell her. Normally young women were thinking about their future with their husband and final wedding preparations the night before they got married, not worrying about the one man they couldn't be with.

As she stepped out further onto the balcony, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. All she wanted was some peace but her thoughts were antagonizing her incessantly. She walked up to the marble railing and placed her hands on it, taking in the sensation of its coolness. Sigyn stayed like that for a while until she suddenly felt something grab her hand. She yelped and opened her eyes, peering down at the most wonderful sight.

Loki was clinging to a baluster with one hand and the other hand was obviously holding onto Sigyn's. On instinct, she reached out and grabbed his other hand to help him up and as spry as a gazelle, he pulled himself and swung over the balustrade, landing quietly before her.

They both just stood there, staring at each other for a moment, taking in the sight of one another; a wave of pure joy surging through their veins.

As a single tear formed in the corner of Sigyn's eye and began to roll down her face, Loki was quick to wipe if away before cupping the back of her neck with one hand and pulling her into a kiss without any warning at all.

Not that Sigyn minded one iota.

She allowed him to encircle his arms completely around her and hold her tightly to him as their kiss deepened. It was like they were two starving creatures finally thrown a scrap of food and were fighting over it. Their breathing became ragged as they tried to maintain some sense of self-control and when they were able to pull apart, Sigyn gripped his shoulders firmly.

"Inside, so no one sees you standing here with me," she whispered, shoving him back into her bed chamber and quickly shutting the balcony doors behind her.

She held the door handles behind her back and just stood there for a moment, still trying to recover from their searing kiss. The lust in her eyes was evident and he casually sauntered up to her and returned to the same gesture of pulling her in to devour her mouth. She released the handles and clamored to grip at his face as he threw his arms about her waist, twirling her away from the doors and lifting her feet off the ground to carry her over to her bed. Without any decorum, he tossed her down and immediately climbed up over her, his knees between her legs and the palms of his hands on either side of her shoulders. Before he lowered his body down, he caught sight of the dress beside them and ceased all movement.

"Is that what I think it is?" he asked in a shaky breath.

Sigyn didn't need to bother looking where he was looking. She knew. "Yes," she answered. "My mother gave it to me. She wore it when she married my father, now I am to wear it." She sat up slightly, propping herself up with her elbows. "I gather you have heard about my betrothal to Theoric of Vanaheim."

"Unfortunately."

"He is a good man," she remarked, then brought a hand up to cup the side of his face and force him to look her in the eye. "But he is not you."

Loki smirked, despite himself. "Yes, there is no one quite like me."

Sigyn smirked as well. "No one at all."

"You are marrying him tomorrow, though," he said sadly. "I am going to lose you."

"Unfortunately," she repeated his previous comment.

"Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless something happened that would allow you not to marry him, which could buy us time to convince my father to allow _us_ to marry instead…"

"And what, exactly, do you propose?"

Loki wouldn't respond, either because he didn't quite know or he knew exactly what he had in mind but wouldn't tell her. Instead, he responded by kissing her softly on the lips and nuzzling his nose against hers. She cooed at both gestures, letting her fingers work their way into his slightly disheveled black hair.

"As highly unlikely as it will be that something will prevent my marriage tomorrow to Theoric, can I ask you a favor?" Sigyn muttered against his lips.

"Anything."

"Will you give me away?"

Loki instantly pulled away and looked at her. "Give you away?" he repeated.

"Yes," she nodded. "I cannot have my father here, so I was going to have Iwaldi do it. My mother even suggested Odin in the event I wanted someone other than Iwaldi. But I can't think of anyone I'd rather give me away, even if it cannot be you I'm being given to."

Knitting his brow together, Loki swallowed back a lump in his throat and sat back on his legs. "You want me to hand you off to another man; another man who will bed you and give you children?" A dull ache was beginning to form in the pit of his chest.

"Would you rather not be present at all? Ignore the fact that your father, the All-father, has promised me to someone else? How do we go against that? Who are we to go against his behests?"

"I guess we will just have to wait and see."

Loki slid off the bed and stood up, causing Sigyn to sit up with questioning eyes.

"What is on your mind, Loki?"

"Nothing, everything," he said, moving toward the balcony doors.

"Are you not staying?"

"I would love nothing more, my darling Sigyn; but there are certain matters to which I must attend before your big day."

"Which matters would those be?" she questioned, getting up and walking over to him.

"Never you mind." He placed hand upon her waist and a kiss upon her lips. "Get some rest. I will see you tomorrow."

As he reached for the doors and turned the handles, Sigyn sidled up beside him. "Does that mean you will give me away?"

"No, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I will never give you away for you are and always will be mine." Loki looked upon her, his eyes smoldering; clearly expressing his desire to have her for himself.

Reaching up to grip the sides of his face, Sigyn kissed him once more before he stole out of her bed chamber and out onto the balcony. She closed the doors behind him, not bothering to watch him climb over the balustrade and sneak back toward the palace, alone in the night.

Sigyn turned and looked back at her bed, walking up to it and grabbing her wedding dress. She frowned and carried it over to her privacy screen, draping it over. She had no desire to try it on now and was loathing putting it on the following day; not because it wasn't a beautiful dress, but because she would be wearing it to marry a man she didn't love. As she stepped away from it and went back to her bed, she slipped out of her peignoir and cast it over the chair to her dressing table, leaving her in just her chemise. Climbing into bed, she pulled the blankets up to her chest and looked to the candles scattered around her room to provide light, and with a flick of her wrist, the flames were extinguished, save for the fire in the fireplace.

She closed her eyes, but she knew she would barely sleep that night, if at all.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Sigyn was awoken by a horrible howl of anguish, causing her to sit straight up in bed and blink away the dreams she'd been having. Looking around to remind her of where she was, she fumbled to climb out of bed and reach for her peignoir which she pulled on as quickly as possible before running out of her bed chamber. She followed the sound of the howling and found her way to the first level of her home to where her mother was collapsed on the bottom steps of the grand staircase, clearly distraught and in tears. Iwaldi was with her and Sigyn's sisters were following suit to see what the ruckus was about.

Sigyn knelt down beside her mother and placed a hand upon her arm. "Mother, what is it? What has put you into such a state at this hour?"

Freya was too emotional to answer right away, so Iwaldi looked to his eldest stepdaughter. "It is Theoric," he spoke with severity in his voice.

Sigyn was confused as she furrowed her brow. "What about him?"

"He went out hunting very early this morning, just before the dawn. He was found only an hour ago, dead."

She blinked once, twice; unsure she heard the words right. "What do you mean he was found dead?"

"He was gored to death; some sort of wild beast must have attacked him. Palace officials are looking into it."

Sigyn looked at her mother who was taking the news horribly and Sigyn felt bad that she was not reacting at least almost similarly. She was saddened by this news, for sure, and she began to shed tears for Theoric. He had been a very wonderful man; very kind and sweet and honorable. Sigyn had felt nothing more for him than a friendship. Sure, he was handsome enough, but there was nothing about him that screamed undying affection and devotion toward him.

Theoric had been killed by a wild animal in the wee hours of the morning, hunting before their wedding, which was not at all strange. Many Asgardian men took part in such a activity the mornings of their nuptials. It just struck Sigyn funny at the perfect timing.

Loki would be pleased to know something had indeed happened to allow them time to convince Odin to allow them to marry instead.

Outwardly, Sigyn embraced her mother and shed some more tears with her, but inwardly, she was smiling at being released from having to marry another.


	11. So Close, So Far Away

* * *

 

Instead of a wedding celebration, there was a funeral later in the day. The funeral pyre was built in the courtyard outside the palace; the royal family, Sigyn and her family, most noble families and of course Theoric's family were present as they stood around Theoric's body, resting eternally atop the pyre. He was dressed in fine clothes; his arms folded over his chest with a sword under his hands as a symbol that he had been a warrior for a good part of his life. Several of his belongings were placed around him; a few handheld weapons, a book he cherished, minor trinkets and even food. His mother stepped forward, tearless and solemn, placing an orchid flower upon her deceased son's chest. Sigyn stepped forth as well, holding her own orchid and doing the same. She would've been his bride that very day so it was not strange for her to take part in such a gesture. Had he died the morning after their wedding, she would've been his widow; instead she was just the woman who would've been his wife.

Loki was standing across the pyre from Sigyn, who stood with her immediate family and Theoric's; Loki stood with Odin, Frigga and Thor. His hands were clasped together in front of him, his eyes were cast downward and his face void of expression as Theoric's father stepped forth with a torch set the pyre alight. Walking around, setting the kindling on fire on various spots, all stood quietly as the blaze gradually sprang forth.

The warmth of the flames could be felt on the faces of those closest to the fire and as they licked upward, Loki lifted his gaze and stared across to Sigyn.

 _How are you doing, dear Sigyn?_ He telepathically called out to her.

She brought her gaze upward and locked eyes with him. _I am saddened, but I am fine._

 _When I hoped something would happen, I could have never imagined it would be his death_ , Loki alleged. _It was a terrible twist of fate and, for what it is worth, I am sorry, so sorry, for your loss._

 _Your condolences are unnecessary, but appreciated_ , she responded, just as her mother gripped her hand and gave a squeeze. She looked at her mother who tried to smile, albeit teary-eyed, back at her. Sigyn simply gave a quick but rueful smile and cast a quick glance back over to Loki, completely ignoring the blazing pyre between them. _I will be removing myself to my chambers for the next seven days until the funeral feast. I will not be taking visitors until then. I might not have been Theoric's widow, but I owe him that much. He was a good man to me in the short time we were betrothed._

 _I understand_. Loki looked at the base of the pyre, pursing his lips slightly.

_But, afterward…_

Sigyn's voice in his mind brought his attention back up to her. _What of it?_ He inquired.

_I wish for you to visit me._

A tiny smirk appeared at the corner of Loki's mouth. Blink and you would've missed it. _You do not need to ask me twice._

 

* * *

 

Exactly seven days later, all were gathered in the palace's dining room for a fine feast in honor of the fallen Theoric. It was a rather delightful gathering filled with food, drink and general merriment; all to celebrate a life and to no longer mourn a death. Odin was seated at the head of the exceptionally long table and Frigga at his left. Theoric's parents sat to the right of Odin, followed by Thor and Loki on the same side of the table as their mother while Sigyn sat beside Theoric's mother, and then her own mother and remaining family members to her right. It was more than a little awkward, sitting so close to Theoric's mother while Loki sat directly across from her; his foot occasionally nudging against hers under the table. She had Theoric's mother's ear the entire time; she was clinging to Sigyn as the last piece of her son, as she and her husband had not been blessed with any other children.

Because of their previous confrontation with Odin months earlier after what happened in the cavern, this had been the first time Loki and Sigyn were seen in public this near to one another. They both knew only his parents were obviously in the know as to what happened, and her mother and stepfather might've been told; the latter, though, they weren't sure of. Thor seemed blissfully unaware still as he made jovial banter with his dear cousin Sigyn, even nudging Loki with a laugh and a mouthful of food, as he brought up some random childhood memory.

Loki and Sigyn couldn't have a proper conversation alone, except for mind to mind, but that was fine. It was like pulling off some magnificent scheme right under everyone's noses.

 _You are finished with your week of mourning, yes_? He inquired, making sure.

_Yes. I gave it seven days. The only visitors I accepted were Theoric's mother and father._

_How did that go?_

_It was awkward. She holds to me as if I were her daughter now. It is too much pressure._

_Well, soon she will move on, one hopes._

_Yes, one does._ She braved a smirk his way and even went as far as to stretch her leg out to press her foot against his shin and work her way up. The table was too wide for her to reach further, but it did the trick sure enough. She caught the way he squirmed a little, and then reached his hand under the table to hold her foot for a brief moment.

 _Shall I visit you later?_ He asked, holding his goblet to his mouth and staring at the wine within.

_You had better._

Finally, Loki dared a glance up at Sigyn that lasted longer than it typically should have. She gave a tilt of her head and flashed him the faintest smirk. Mercy, she loved him. If she had her way, she would stare at him all evening long, but with his father a few feet away, it was not an option, unfortunately. So, they continued to make silent conversation with each other during the remainder of the feast while verbal conversations floated all around them and theirs went unheard and unnoticed.

 

* * *

 

Several hours later, when the funeral celebration had ended and those partaking in the festivity had made their ways home, Loki was in his bed chamber preparing to sneak out to meet Sigyn. He was inspecting his appearance in a mirror for a moment when there was a rapping at his door. Knowing if he didn't answer it, suspicion would be raised, he walked toward the door and swung it open with irritation.

"What is it?" he demanded, finding himself staring at two palace guards. His narrowed his gaze upon them; no idea why they would be at his chamber door at this hour.

"The All-Father requests an audience with you, Prince Loki," one of the guards spoke.

Loki pursed his lips together and swallowed back a small lump in his throat. "And he needed two guards to tell me this? Would one not suffice?"

"We are to escort you."

His nerves began to dance. "Escort me?" he repeated. He felt the need to retaliate with some condescending response, to belittle the guards in some way to mask his nerves and curiousness. But he did nothing of the sort. He reigned in that need simply nodded to them. "Very well. _Escort_ me," he remarked; slightly mocking.

He stepped out into the hall and walked ahead of the guards who quickly flanked behind him. Soon, the boots he wore echoed off the walls of the throne room and rounded to stand before his father who was seated quite comfortably and even had an air of aloofness about him. Loki couldn't help but wonder if this was merely a social call of sorts between father and son rather than a serious matter.

Odin nodded to the guards. "Thank you. You may go." Fists to their chest, they bowed their heads and removed themselves from the throne room, leaving just Odin and Loki. And all at once, the air got heavy. Odin leaned forward. "I will ask you just once, my son," he began. "Were you in any way involved with the death of Theoric?"

Loki immediately scoffed at the question. "What? How can you ask such a thing of me?"

"Because I find it quite convenient and strange that Theoric, a noted warrior and hunter was killed by a wild beast, while hunting, the day he was to wed Sigyn, a woman you have already claimed to love. And what is more, this wild beast eludes us still, as if it simply…disappeared."

"And again, I ask, how you can ask such a thing of me? Just because I love Sigyn, the man she was betrothed to was killed, and your guards are inept at finding the beast responsible, it is automatically my fault? Can I do nothing right, father?"

"You are twisting my words, Loki."

"No, I'm not. You are insinuating your own son is responsible for another's untimely demise. You're basically calling me a murderer."

"I am doing no such thing."

"Yes, you are, and I resent it. I have been obedient in your demands that I go off and play warrior with Thor and the others. I have sat idly by while you betrothed my love to another. I have not even had a minute alone with her since you first sent me off months ago. I have done everything you asked and more and I come home, only to have you assume I am a killer."

"I have not assumed you a murderer or a killer. I have asked you if you were in any way involved. Did you scare the beast, did you lure it to where Theoric was killed, or have you dispensed with it? These are the questions I am requiring you answer."

"No, I did none of those things. I, Loki Odinson, prince of Asgard, did not have anything to do with the death of Theoric of Vanaheim," Loki sputtered bitterly, glowering at his father. "I have answered your questions. Now may I retire to my chambers for the night or are there more things you would like to ask me? Is there a goblet that has gone missing from the kitchen you think I might know the location of?"

"Watch your tongue, boy." Odin's tone wasn't as serious as he sat back in his throne. He looked upon his youngest and sighed. "Off with you then."

Loki bowed his head. "Thank you, father. I bid you goodnight."

Before Loki could leave, Odin spoke up once more. "My son…"

The dark-haired prince turned and looked sideways at his father, but with eyes cast downward. "Yes?"

"Thor leaves in the morning with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three for Muspelheim. I would have you join them again."

Loki hesitated. A part of him was happy his father wanted him included in whatever it was Thor was involved with, but the other part of him was angry for being told what to do as if he were still but a child. "Is that a request or a demand?"

"Well, I suppose I cannot force you to go. You have proved your worth as a warrior with the others these last several months abroad. However, it would make me more proud to see both my sons, side by side, in such endeavors more often."

 _Good guilt trip, Odin_ , Loki thought, knitting his brow together. "If I go, may I be permitted to see Sigyn as freely as I want when I return?"

"When you return, we shall discuss it then."

 _It is better than nothing_ , he supposed. Loki looked briefly at his father. "Very well. I shall join my brother once more."

Odin smiled. "I am glad to hear you say so."

 _Of course you are_ , Loki said to himself, and then walked away.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn was sitting at her dressing table with her peignoir open; underneath the top of her chemise was unlaced enough to reveal the tops of her breasts. She pinched her cheeks to give them a bit more color and she ran her brush through her hair a few more times. Glancing at her reflection, she pressed her lips together, trying to contain the smile that was due to expecting Loki to arrive soon. She could almost feel her skin tingling from the anticipation his presence would be.

"Is all your primping for me?"

Sigyn turned around and found Loki leaning against her bedpost. She furrowed her brow in confusion, looked to her closed balcony doors and then back at him. "How did you get in?" she stood up and took a few steps closer to him.

Loki frowned. "I'm not really here."

She narrowed her eyes, squinting slightly in the process. "You look very much here to me," she replied with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining you."

"No, you're not imagining me, and I am here, but not here."

Realization hit her like a brick. "This is a double." She gestured to him. "How come you've sent a double?"

"I couldn't get away," he turned his head and pulled himself away from the bedpost, clasping his hands together as he walked closer to her. His body flickered for a brief second, reinforcing his claim at not being there. "My father had need of my presence and he has requested I join Thor again."

Sigyn inhaled a shaky breath. She was longing for him to be here with her. She wanted to feel his touch again. She hated having to wait to be together with him, though she would do it regardless. "When do you leave?"

"In the morning."

"Where to this time?"

"Muspelheim."

"The realm of the fire giants?" she frowned. "What could Odin possibly need to send you and the others there for? It is not as if Surtur is threatening war. Odin had him imprisoned in the center of Midgard centuries ago."

"I do not know what our mission will entail. I'm usually left in the dark in these matters until after we've arrived," Loki explained. "I shall try to visit you, like I am now, whenever I can manage it."

"Don't." He seemed caught off guard by her response. "You will need your focus. I do not want to be the reason you were off your game. I don't want you returning home to Asgard wounded again or worse, dead, because your mind was literally elsewhere with me. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

Sigyn walked up to him and went to touch him, despite knowing he was incorporeal at the moment. And sure enough, her hand passed straight through him the moment she would've made contact with his chest. Despite it, however, Loki flickered, but not in the usual way. His eyes closed and a smile appeared on his face.

"I felt that," he murmured. He looked right at her. "It was like a breeze passed through me." He narrowed his own gaze and let out a small, incredulous chuckle. "I suppose it means we are truly connected."

Sigyn snickered. "Obviously."

Curious, Loki reached a hand out and tried touching Sigyn's face. His fingers seemed to disappear against her skin but she shuddered nonetheless and the smile that appeared on her lips suggested his gesture wasn't a complete failure.

"That was amazing," she replied. "It was like static shock."

Loki tilted his head, impressed. "I guess not being one hundred percent with you isn't all bad." Suddenly, his gaze went blank; his eyes void of any emotion as he stood stock still. After a quick moment, he snapped back to reality. "Someone is at my chamber door. I must go."

"Oh, okay," Sigyn nodded. "I suppose I shall see you when you return from this next jaunt."

"Take care, my darling. My love."

"You do the same."

And with that, Loki was gone.

 

* * *

 

The mission to Muspelheim wasn't the only mission Loki was sent on with Thor and the others. They were sent here and there on one excursion after another. Mere months passed on Asgard, but it could've been years as far as Sigyn was concerned. She had become lonely. The last time Loki was gone, at least she had a betrothal to focus on; even if it wasn't the betrothal she wanted. It was something that occupied her time. This time, she had no one to spend any time with; not Loki, not even Sif or Brunhilde.

Her sisters were getting older, but they were not on the same level as her, maturity wise. Her mother was occupied with other things and had returned to not having the time to be bothered by her eldest. With no other betrothal on the horizon, what was the point in pretense anymore? All Sigyn could do was sit in her chambers all day long, reading books or writing in her journal, or going for walks. Once in a while she took one of her horses out of the stables and went for long rides in the meadows beyond the city walls. All the while, though, she was lost in her own thoughts, memories and daydreams.

Eventually, she began to correlate how her loneliness was probably in some way similar to what her father must be feeling wherever he was. Granted, she was surrounded by her own kind on a daily basis, and he didn't, but what did that mean to her if those that mattered most to her weren't near at all?

She would catch herself daydreaming about moments from her childhood when her father would lift her high above his head, pretending she was flying, or throwing her up in the air and catching her. She remembered being very young and climbing onto his back, or sitting within his arms while he recounted stories of battles he had participated in alongside his brothers Odin and Vili; even his own childhood. Sigyn could still remember the sound of his heartbeat in his chest as she rested against him, as well as his scent when he held her and hugged her. She remembered the way she would bury her face in his neck when she cried because one of the boys teased her and his hair would tickle her skin.

All these memories, the more she thought on them, began to make her heart ache for her father. She never realized just how badly she had missed him in the many, many years he had been gone. All the memories they could've had together as father and daughter up to this point, stolen, all because of whatever treasonous deed her father Lodur had done that Odin had declared was done to him and the realm.

It just about turned her stomach. Lodur was Odin's brother, how could he just send him away? Why couldn't he simply been imprisoned in Asgard. At least then she could visit him and he could've seen how she had grown from a little girl into a woman.

She watched her sisters, who no longer had their own father in the same household but had the ability to see him if they chose to. Jealousy burned in her heart and when her mother actually took a moment to ask her if she was okay, she fumed and stormed off like she did when she was her sisters' age. What's worse is that she didn't have Loki readily available to talk to about what she was feeling.

A few weeks later, the feelings about needing to see her father again hadn't diminished in the slightest. It was one evening, after Frigga had invited Freya and her family to join them for dinner, that Sigyn approached Odin and asked to have a word with him in private.

Sensing the urgency in her voice, the All-Father acquiesced; leading her to one of his private chambers meant for receiving emissaries from the other realms, occasions such as this with family and chose not to have any possibility of prying eyes or ears listening in. He stepped aside to allow her to enter first; her hands folded in front of her and her eyes taking in the room. She had never been inside this particular room before and was impressed by its stateliness; not that she expected anything less from a king.

Odin closed the door behind them; the glow of firelight shining in his golden eye patch. His only eye, bright and blue, looked upon his niece. "What is it you needed to speak to me about, my niece?"

She treaded carefully. She always had around him. Uncle or not, he was still her king, and the two of them had never been close as most family members tended to be. Her jaw fixed, she held her head high; a gesture he noted and respected. She was nothing if not his kin.

"It is in regard to my father," she finally spoke.

"My brother Vé," Odin nodded.

"Lodur," she corrected. "He preferred Lodur."

"Yes, I suppose he did."

Sigyn narrowed her gaze. "Why is it you speak of him in the past tense, All-Father; as if he were dead? He is not, is he?"

"No, he is very much alive, I am happy to report."

"Where is he? What realm was he sent to upon his banishment from Asgard?"

Odin was the one to narrow his gaze this time. "What has inspired such curiosity, dear girl?"

"He is my father, I am his only child. I should know where he is." Tears formed at her eyes, betraying the steely resolve she was trying to project. "I have gone so long without him in my life. He has missed many a milestone. He didn't get to see me grow up or see me successfully complete training as a shield maiden. Had Theoric not been killed, my father would have given me away. I only had him for a short time. Meanwhile, my sisters can revel in the fact that their father is merely a stone's throw away; available to their every beck and call."

"It was unfortunate the way things turned out so long ago. But the past is the past, my dear. There is no undoing it."

"But there are ways around it," she asserted. She stepped forward, her eyes imploring. "It doesn't matter what my father did. The specifics are unimportant to me now. What is important is that I never got to say goodbye. I was torn from his arms, never to look upon his face again."

"What are you asking, Sigyn?"

"I…" she hesitated, searching for the right way to word his request. She looked away for a moment, wiping away one of the tears that threatened to fall. When she looked back at him, she held his gaze and strove to keep it from wavering. "I wish to see him."

"Not possible." The answer was quick, without consideration.

"Of course it is possible," she insisted.

"He was banished for treason. To interact with him would be fraternizing with an enemy of the state."

"How is it any different than a family member visiting a loved one, imprisoned in a cell? Wherever he was sent is simply his cell. I am his daughter. How can it be impossible for me to see him?"

"I made an edict, upon his banishment, that any association with him following his removal from this realm would be looked upon as treason in itself; thus subject to its own consequences."

"But, uncle…" she risked informality. "He is my father."

Odin shook his head. "He is a traitor!" he shouted.

"He is your brother," she retaliated, trying to reason. Her brow was knitted in heartache and she held her hands up, pressing her palms together as if in prayer.

"Thereof which makes his betrayal that more heartbreaking."

"Please, reconsider your edict. Allow a loophole. Allow me to see him." She approached him, taking a few steps closer. "Let me visit him, just once, so I may see with my own eyes that he is alright. Merely telling me so does nothing to soothe my mind."

"Then I am afraid your mind is fodder for unrest."

"Uncle—"

"I am your king!" he cut her off. "You will kindly know your place."

Sigyn bowed her head. "My apologies, All-Father. I mean no disrespect." Slowly, she looked up at him through her eyebrows.

"This conversation is finished."

Steadying her breath, she somehow managed to maintain her composure and not allow herself to break and show any further emotion; hardening herself against him. "Will you not tell me where he is, at least?" she asked as he opened the chamber door for her to exit.

He stopped but didn't look at her. "Midgard."

Sigyn allowed the word to seep into her mind, pocketing it away like a small animal storing away its food for a rainy day. "Thank you." She fixed her jaw once more, her lips pursed together in a firm line. With a quick bow of her head out of respect that he was certainly her king before he was her uncle, she slipped from the room.

She kept the same composure as she made her way to the parlor where Frigga, Freya, Iwaldi and Sigyn's sisters were immersed in conversation with after-dinner beverages and snacks being served to them by the wait staff. She walked straight up to her mother and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Freya looked up and smiled. "Oh, hello, dear. How went your conversation with your uncle?"

"My conversation with my king went well."

"Did you get to ask him what you wanted?"

"I asked my questions, I received his answers." Her face remained stony and only Frigga seemed to notice the heartache oozing from Sigyn's eyes. "I am feeling rather tired. I think I would like to head home and turn in for the night, if that is alright with you, mother?"

"Of course, dear. Have our carriage take you, but make sure to send it back."

"Yes, mother." Sigyn looked to her aunt and queen. "Thank you for a lovely evening, dear aunt. My regards to the palace cooks for preparing such a fine meal as usual."

Frigga smiled sweetly and stood up to embrace her niece, kissing her on the cheek. "I shall pass the regards along. I am glad you enjoyed it," she responded gracefully. "I hope you get the rest you require."

"I shall, thank you." Sigyn curtsied and waved goodbye to the others before exiting the parlor.

Making her way to the entrance hall of the palace, she asked the footman to bring round her carriage and when it was arrived from the carriage house, she was helped up into it. Sigyn sat back as the footman closed the door for her and she stared out its window as the carriage driver got them moving, and the moment she knew she had the privacy to do so, she let her resolve fade away as a resonating sob racked within her chest.


	12. Fated

* * *

 

The brothers Odinson had returned.

They had been successful in their adventures to the other realms, and even encountered a pack of bilgesnipe again. Loki even came out on top in the latter exploit; he had grabbed up Sif's sword, which she had accidentally dropped, and used it to strike one of the beasts straight into the heart and, upon pulling it out, severed the head clean off. When he returned to Asgard with his brother, Sif and the Warriors Three, he presented the head to his father, which Odin accepted with plans to mount it on a wall plaque and hang it up in his one if his private chambers.

Loki was still quite intrigued by the beast's antlers; the smooth sleekness that was actually quite lovely in compared with the rest of the creature. He had to remember to remove just those the next time he had the opportunity to slay a bilgesnipe and keep them for himself.

He wasn't even home hours, stretched out on a chaise lounge with one leg hanging over the edge, when his mother approached with a smile dancing on her lips. They had already embraced upon his and Thor's initial arrival and exchanged pleasantries. This time it seemed the queen of the realm had something to tell him; information she didn't have earlier. Narrowing his eyes, he sat up.

"Mother," he greeted.

Frigga walked up to him and leaned forward to swat at his outstretched leg so that she could sit beside him, "I have pleasing news for you, but it comes with warnings of treading carefully."

Perplexed, Loki raised his brow. "What news?"

"Your father is granting you free reign to resume your friendship with Sigyn, but under the condition you maintain certain boundaries." She placed her hand on his leg and leaned closer to speak. "I am sure you know of what boundaries I mean."

Loki frowned. "Of course," he lied. "I understand."

"If it were up to me, I would have given you two my blessing."

"You would have?" he asked, curiously. "Would you have seriously stood up to father or forced him to reconsider?"

"Had I the power to make that decision, yes, I would have."

Loki wasn't completely sold on it. He just looked at his mother, then down at his lap. "Well, for what it's worth, I appreciate your support in the matter."

Frigga raised her hand to the side of her youngest son's face, causing his green eyes to focus slightly upon the gesture. "There is another matter…"

Loki quirked his brow. "Oh?"

"It's about Sigyn." Seeing his posture straightening and his concern become greatly obvious, she tried to express an assuring smile. "It is nothing dire."

He was confused. "Then what is the matter with Sigyn, mother? Please tell me now." He hadn't meant to sound as urgently as he did.

Frigga hesitated momentarily with how to proceed. "I think it would be best if it came from her, not me."

His lips parted slightly, Loki stood up and didn't even bother saying anything further to his mother. He didn't even care that she had said the matter wasn't dire. All that did matter was that he needed to see Sigyn, immediately. The bottoms of his boots barely made a sound as he turned his gait into a brisk pace. The moment he was outside the palace walls, he made his way to the carriage house and had the stable boy get his horse for him. He grabbed the reins as soon as he was on top and took off like a bat out of hell. Through the roads within the city of Asgard, Loki made remarkable time, without taking his usual shortcuts down walking paths.

When he reached Sigyn's home, he rode his horse around to the stables there and dismounted as soon a stable boy approached, wondering who was making such a commotion on horseback. Loki handed over the reins and smirked inwardly at the way the stable boy quickly bowed his head when he realized who Loki was. He held a finger up to his lips to silence the boy so his arrival could be kept as much on the down low as possible. Gathering himself, he turned and made his way up to the manor; heading inside via the servants' entrance. Climbing the trellis below Sigyn's balcony aside, this was one of the few ways Loki had relied on getting to her see her in the past.

Loki took the stairs two at a time, as silently as the grave. He hugged the walls like a cat in the dark, eventually happening upon the wing of the estate he knew Sigyn's bed chamber to be located; along with that of her sisters' bed chambers, as well. Tiptoeing, he reached her door but, instead of knocking, he leaned his forehead against it and closed his eyes.

Inside the room, Sigyn was sitting, cross-legged on the floor, braiding flowers together to make a wreath. The hair on her arms and the back of her neck began to stand on end as she sensed she was not completely alone. There was no one but her inside her room and her curiosity piqued, she set the wreath-in-progress aside, brushed the extra floral bits off her lap and stood up. Sigyn held a hand out into the air before her and felt a tingling sensation the closer she moved toward her door. Realizing what it meant, her eyes began to lighten and a smile tugged her lips upward. She rushed to the door and opened it wide.

There before her, Loki stood; leaning against the door frame and looking down at her as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. She was completely silent as she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind them. Sigyn spun around and pressed her back up against the door before letting her eyes fall upon him and when they finally did, she launched herself at him; throwing her arms around him. Swiftly he caught her and lifted her up off her feet and, without hesitating, their lips found each other as if the flood gates had opened up. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her body as close against his as possible.

"Loki," she mumbled his name into his mouth. Slowly, she raised her hands to the sides of his face and pulled hers back enough to stare properly at him; both of them just looking into each other's eyes.

He knitted his brow together and placed a kiss on her forehead before speaking. "My mother said there is something about you that she felt should come from you. She seemed sad as she mentioned your name. What is wrong?" He thumbed her jaw. "Please tell me."

Sigyn frowned. "You were sent off again, which I accepted, but I was lonely. I had no one I truly cared about to talk to. You were gone longer than I thought you would be gone for and I began to think a great many things and all my thoughts came down to the same thing."

"Which was?"

"My father, how much I crave to have him in my life."

"But he's banished. He cannot come back."

"I know that; that he cannot come back _here_ , but nothing was ever said that I couldn't go to _him_." She caught the curious look Loki shot her. She stepped away from him and walked over to her bed on which she sank down upon. Her hands folded in her lap, she looked back at him. "I went to your father one evening. Our families were having dinner together while you and Thor were gone. I spoke with him in private after the meal, pleading my case about seeing my father again."

"What was the answer?"

"No." Sigyn sighed and cast her gaze down at her lap. "He shot me down; wouldn't really hear me out. So, I went to ask him again a couple of weeks ago, hoping I could convince him otherwise. Again, I got the same answer. He wouldn't even let me finish talking. He cut me off mid-sentence and sent me away like some simpleton." Tears began to sting her eyes and anger caused her lips to twitch as she pursed them firmly together.

Loki watched as a fire began to burn within her. He could see that by talking about this that it was causing her to seethe. "Why would my mother seem so worried about you, though, other than the matter between you and my father?"

Sigyn smirked bitterly. "Probably because I haven't left this room in the last two weeks," she answered. "I have even taken my meals here and have denied what little visitors I get on a regular basis. Word about it has probably gotten back to your mother through mine. Valhalla knows my mother loves a bit of gossip, even if it _is_ about me from time to time."

"I thought you and your mother were on better terms these days?" he asked, momentarily bypassing her self-induced seclusion, and taking a seat beside her on the bed.

"We were, but ever since Theoric died, it feels like she gave up on being my mother again." Sigyn shrugged. "It's nothing I wasn't already used to."

Feeling the pang in his chest that Sigyn felt in hers, sensing her sadness, he instinctively took her hand in his, running his thumb over her knuckles. "Well, you have me."

Sigyn turned her head and looked up at him with a lovingly appreciative smile. "And every day I give thanks for that."

Loki turned his body, bringing a hand behind her back and snaking it around to her waist. He lowered his head to kiss her and reveled in her returning the gesture quite readily. When she suddenly ended the kiss, he was perplexed at first until she placed a hand on his chest and casually pushed him back onto the bed until he was laying down with his legs dangling over the edge. He stared up at her as she swiveled around until she was kneeling with her legs on either side of his waist. When Sigyn lowered her body onto his lap and leaned forward, Loki felt his skin begin to flush. He bit his lip at the slightest movement she made against him, inciting his lower… _region_. With almost a growl, he quickly gripped her face in his hands and brought her face down to crush their lips together.

As their tongues dueled, Loki allowed his hands to move away from her face and roam down her body, wanting to feel every inch of her. His fingers danced along every one of her curves, eliciting small mewls from between her lips, and eventually his thumbs hooked under the fabric of her dress before slowly lifting it up over her hips.

Sigyn ceased all movement upon his gesture. She sat upright and while his hands rested on the spot where her hips met her thighs. She reached her arms around to untie the laces behind her back, but struggled. When he noticed this, Loki smirked and a second version of him appeared behind her to take over the task of undoing the laces of her dress for her.

She cocked her head and smiled, knowingly. "Why aren't I surprised?"

Loki didn't answer. As soon as the laces were undone and the dress sagged slightly against her, he disappeared his doppelgänger and sat up enough so that he could grip the shoulders of her dress and pull the material down over her chest. The entirety of the dress was pooled around her waist, leaving only the thin material of her chemise. With the grace of a bird in flight, Loki wrapped his arms around her waist and flipped her over onto the bed so that she was the one lying down. He yanked the remainder of dress down her legs and let it drop to the floor below before kneeling above her and practically ripping at his own jacket and pulling it off. He stopped long enough to get off the bed and stand up so he could remove his tunic as well, tossing it over his shoulder without a care.

With a devil-may-care grin plastered upon her face, Sigyn scooted down toward the edge of the bed and reached her hands out to grab onto the waist of his pants and force him closer between her legs. Both their heartbeats were pounding so fast inside their chests that they echoed in their respective eardrums.

"Loki," she whispered.

Sigyn placed a hand behind his neck and he took the bait. He lowered his body down onto hers while trying to finagle her out of her chemise with deft fingers. And then he stopped. He let his eyes take in her form, completely bare to him for the first time. He drank in every inch of her; his lips parting with anticipation.

"You're beautiful," he spoke in a hushed tone, as if he had just happened upon a wonderful secret.

"I only feel that way with you," she replied, beckoning for him to come back down to her level. Sigyn wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist as she accepted his mouth upon hers once more.

His kisses made her feel like she had died and gone to Valhalla; the sensation he sent through her body was incandescent. She loved feeling his bare chest rubbing against the tautness of her nipples, exciting the rest of her to no end and causing her to crave all of him, immediately, without hesitation. As he kissed his way down her neck, leaving small love bites in his wake, he dropped his mouth to her precious mounds and his subsequent ministrations made her toss her head further back against her mattress and close her eyes tight. She began to move underneath him as her skin became more and more flushed with desire for him; causing her to arch her back and grind against his evident erection.

Loki took the hint.

He stopped what he was doing to unbutton his pants, but Sigyn was the one to finish the job. She placed her toes into the waist of his pants and pulled them down over his narrow hips; allowing his manhood its freedom.

She may not have ever lain with a man before, and was therefore naïve in those ways, but instinct proved most helpful. Her body told her what needed to happen and how. She slowly and demurely lay back onto the bed, pushing herself up closer to rest amongst her pillows while Loki crept after her and came to rest between her legs.

The slightest touch of his erection against her opening sent mutual shivers down their spines. He hooked one hand under her knee, as she returned her legs around his waist; her feet crossing just under his ass, forcing him to push further against her.

"I feel like I've waited forever for this," Sigyn mumbled against his mouth when he kissed her just then.

"And now that forever has come and gone," he muttered. "No more waiting." But, before he went forward with taking her innocence, he looked her in the eye, waiting for the go-ahead.

 _What are you waiting for?_ She asked him, telepathically.

Loki smirked, and pushed himself in slowly, claiming her mouth with his to muffle her initial cries. He pulled out halfway, damn near shuddering as he did so. Again, he pushed in; this time, further. Loki repeated the process, slowly, for a few moments, until he felt her give way to the pain and made ample room for pleasure to start flowing in. He increased his speed, and began pushing deeper and deeper until he hit her core; both their arms clinging frantically about each other as they rocked back and forth like branches of a tree in a torrential rainstorm.

Her mews and whimpers of pleasure were evenly matched by his gasps and groans, and all was usually muffled by their relentless kissing.

"Oh, mercy… _oh_ …oh, Loki…" she cried out.

Loki pressed his forehead into the crook of her neck, trailing his tongue along her collar bone. He never ceased his thrusts inside her, as the ball of pressure began to build at the base of his spine, like a delicious fire being sparked to life by pieces of flint. When he heard her whimpering get more short and ragged, he knew she was close to her climax. The excitement of finally making love to her after the frustration of not being able properly be in her presence for what felt like forever, was too much. He couldn't contain the orgasm that was ready to tear through him any longer. When he came inside her, his whole body became racked with tiny spasms and a vision of stars splayed before his eyes as a dying whimper of his own fell upon his lips which, in turn, fell upon Sigyn's. He wanted so badly to just fall against her body in a dead heap of contentment and ecstasy but he knew she still hadn't reached her peak. So, Loki foraged on; riding out his orgasm with several more thrusts, rolling his hips each time and eliciting high-pitched cries from the depths of her throat.

As her nails began to dig deep into his shoulder blades, he knew she was close. A few more rolling thrusts for good measure, and she had all but turned to goo. Her body began to quake beneath him as the white hot heat that had been building in her loins figuratively exploded forth, overcoming all her senses.

As the last remains of their orgasms began to die away and leave them to recover, Loki finally collapsed down onto her body, allowing his weight to pin her there. Basking in the glow of post-coitus, he rested his head upon her shoulder and she cradled him in her arms; kissing his forehead and stroking her fingers through his dark hair.

"I love you, Sigyn," he whispered.

"I love you more."

He lifted his head and smirked at her. "I love you most."

"Well, I love you…" she trailed, thinking. "Endlessly."

Loki laughed a little and placed a few kisses along her collar bone, her jugular notch, and up her neck until he found her lips once more; biting down on the lower one for good measure. His tongue grazed her teeth, seeking entrance into the cavern of her mouth and was met with her tongue; both hungry for even more of each other.

And, rather quickly, strong desire began to brew deep within them once again; each other's hips signaling another go.

"So soon?" Loki quipped.

Sigyn didn't bother to answer him verbally or mentally; she simply rolled him over so that she was on top, pinning him back against the bed. Her dark locks fell over her shoulders and over her breasts as she placed her hands on his chest while he instinctively gripped her hips with those long fingers of his.

The only answer he got was Sigyn biting down on her bottom lip and trying to keep herself from smiling at him too much.

 

* * *

 

That night, Loki and Sigyn had made love several more times before falling asleep in each other's arms. As day broke, however, he had to bid her adieu and return home to the palace, promising to meet with her again. She eventually returned to sleep, after letting her mind race with the intimate memories they'd just created. When she finally awoke for the day, she had her handmaid draw her bath and she luxuriated in it; her mind still elsewhere. The warm water and floral bath oils soothed her limbs which were happily sore from the night's events. After she got dressed, she took breakfast in her bedchamber again, feeling that if she joined her family for the meal, they would be able to tell what had transpired just by looking at the grin plastered to her face.

After a few more hours, Loki appeared in her room; but she knew it was a double. She felt it in the air the moment he arrived. He asked her to join him at the lake for lunch that afternoon; he was having the palace kitchen prepare a feast for the two of them. She accepted the invitation and dressed accordingly. And when she finally emerged from her rooms and her mother caught sight of her, she wasn't sure how to greet her daughter. Sigyn simply bypassed any pleasantries and stated she was going to the lake. No further information was needed, she felt.

She took her horse from the stables and rode him to the lakeside, tying his reins to a tree near the water's edge so that he could drink if he wanted. Loki appeared a few moments later, basket in hand, leading his own horse behind him. He greeted her with a kiss and they spoke no words as they sat down together and proceeded to eat the food prepared for them. Afterward, they laid back on the ground, staring up at the canopy the tree tops created over them. She snuggled closer to him after a while and they kissed some more before deciding to go for a swim.

As they swam up to each other, not knowing whether or not they were being watched by Heimdall or Odin's ravens, they threw caution to the wind and connected their bodies under the water. Sigyn sank down onto him, wrapping her legs about his waist while they kicked their feet to keep themselves afloat at the same time. They rocked their bodies against each other, building the friction until it could be contained no more. In the moment it was about to overtake them, Loki pulled them underneath the water's surface. Magic sparked from his fingertips, lighting up the darkened lake with a greenish blue glow around them. When they resurfaced for air, a wave of elation washed over them. Sigyn dropped her head onto his shoulder; the two of them simply hugging.

Later that evening, he snuck out of the palace and joined her in her bed once more; making love until the early hours of morning and either refusing to fall asleep.

This continued on for about a week until one evening, Loki proposed an idea. He knew the matter of her father still weighed heavily on her mind and he wanted to help her in any way he could; he wanted to make her happy. He suggested he go with her, to speak with Odin and plead her case once more. He thought that maybe his presence and support of her wish to see her father again would have some sway over his own father. Third time is a charm, he had stated.

So, the following morning, she met him at the palace, meeting in the throne room before the All-father, who sat most regally and rather imposing with Gungnir in his left hand.

Odin let his eye fall first upon his younger son, narrowing, before casting his gaze over to his niece. He hadn't bothered to use Huginn and Muninn to spy on them for him. He had also asked Heimdall to cast a blind eye to whatever might be going on. He already knew something would transpire just by simply allowing Loki and Sigyn to be alone in each other's company. Odin wasn't stupid. He didn't get this far in his very long life without knowing the signs of interminable love. He wanted to show his happiness for pair, but he had rules he set forth that would need to be enforced. Even if they didn't understand his reasons for doing so, it would be so.

"To what do I owe the honor of this meeting?" Odin questioned. His mind was telling him that they were probably going to ask him to allow them to marry, so he treaded carefully.

"Father, I am here to implore you to listen to Sigyn; to take to heart what she has to say and consider—"

Almost immediately, Odin cut his son off. He realized at once this conversation would not be about marriage. "We have had this discussion already, Sigyn, and you have been given by answer. Twice." He stared at his niece; his face firm.

Sigyn kept strong. "Yes, All-father, and I mean no disrespect, but I don't think you understand my plight, or how silly this all is." She bowed her head and then looked up at him; her gaze unfaltering and for a moment, it appeared as if Odin had shuddered, almost as if seeing a ghost.

For Odin, he saw the face of his long-since banished brother flash across Sigyn's. The defiance in her eyes was the same defiance Lodur had had in his at the time he tried to usurp the throne and didn't deny the deed upon his sentencing. "Your plight is imagined, dear girl," he announced, which felt like a slap in the face to Sigyn.

"Father," Loki spoke, knitting his brow in disbelief.

"My plight is _not_ imagined. It is real and deserves to be acknowledged. And I demand to be allowed to see my father."

Odin stood up and banged the bottom of Gungnir against the floor; the noise resounding in the throne room. "You _demand_?" he growled. "I am your king; you make no demands of me, foolish girl! I have strictly expressed my decision about you seeing your father. He is a traitor, thus an enemy of the realm. Fraternizing with him is forbidden."

"He is not an enemy to me!" Sigyn shouted, not even realizing she was doing it. "He is my father and I will see him if it is the last thing I do!"

Odin took a step forward and then down a step. Sigyn never swayed, but Loki reached out and held onto her arm as if trying to hint to her to rein herself in.

"If you go against me, niece, you better be prepared to face the consequences of such actions," the All-father threatened.

Tears were burning at Sigyn's corneas, her chin quivered but she held steadfast in her stance. She parted her lips to speak further but Loki gripped her arm tighter. She cast her eyes down at his hand and then looked up at him.

 _Stop_ , he spoke quietly in her mind. His eyes expressed worry. _Do not push him any further right now. I fear what may happen if you do._

_But he—_

_No. Just be silent. I will speak with him privately later._

Sigyn held Loki's gaze a moment longer before turning back to face Odin. "I will speak to you no more on this matter, my king." She bowed her head to Odin, crossing her right fist over her chest to her heart. The gesture was sarcastic, however.

In that moment, Odin ceased to be her king and her uncle. He was no more than a fool on a throne to her now.

Swiftly, she turned and began to walk away. Loki bowed to his father and walked off after Sigyn, following her to the outer chamber of the throne room. Both were silent the entire time until they made their way outside the palace walls. It wasn't until she were headed, by foot, in the direction of Sigyn's home, that she stopped walking and just sank to the ground, finally letting the tears spring forward.

Loki dropped down to her side and encircled his arms around her, hugging her tight; just assuring her that he was there for her no matter what.

 

* * *

 

That evening, Sigyn was seated on her balcony with her knees pulled up to her chest while she looked out at the sky above her that was scattered with stars and colorful, far-off nebulas. She had asked Loki to leave her alone for a few hours, claiming she just needed to sort through her thoughts. And when Loki finally appeared, once again as a double, she turned to look up at him with a rueful glimmer in her eyes.

"I wasn't sure how many hours of space you needed, exactly," he spoke.

"It's fine," she shrugged, dropping her legs and turning to face him properly. "To be honest, I always feel better when you're near." Sigyn stood up, reaching out to touch him and then remembered he wasn't physically there. "The only time I feel whole is when I'm with you."

Loki gave her a small, loving smile. "And I with you." With a nod of his head he gestured toward the direction of the lake they were so fond of. "Can you meet me at the cavern as soon as possible?"

"Now?" she questioned, furrowing her brow.

"Yes, now."

Sigyn considered, and then shrugged. "Yes, I suppose I can."

"Good," Loki grinned. "I have a surprise that will hopefully lift your spirits, even if only a little."

Sigyn smiled despite herself. "Very well. Go disappear and I will meet you shortly."

Loki winked and faded away, leaving Sigyn to shake her head; still smiling over how he really did make her feel better. Heading inside to her bed chamber, she grabbed several of her pillows and stuffed them accordingly under her blankets to give them impression of her sleeping soundly underneath, should her mother, sisters or handmaid grow nosey. Tying her hair back into a ponytail with a leather ribbon, she stepped back out onto the balcony and climbed over the balustrade; carefully lowering her body down by holding onto the marble balusters until she was dangling many feet above the ground. It was only a one-story drop and it would hardly hurt at all, so when she let go, she fell gracefully to her feet; bracing herself from falling forward by bending her knees and planting her hands on the ground before her.

Once she stood up, she darted for some shrubbery and hid from view of any servants that would be out and about around the grounds of the estate. In no time at all, she made her way to one of the smaller gates and let herself out, taking off into a sprint. A few minutes passed before she reached the woodland area surrounding the lake and, even in the dark of night, she could find her way along the path to the water's edge. She spotted a few items of clothing she knew belonged to Loki, namely his shoes and outer jacket, and she proceeded in removing her dress and her shoes so that she was standing there in only her chemise.

One step at a time, she waded into the water which was cooler in temperature in the night, and it reminded her of times gone by in her youth when she would go night swimming with Loki, Thor, Sif and the others. As she began to swim across the lake, she took note of how beautiful the Asgardian night sky look as it reflected upon the water, which rippled from her movements. When she made it to the boulders at the base of the waterfall, she pulled herself up; her skin slick from water, which made it only slightly harder to grip the stone. Carefully she stood up and pushed her body as close to the cliff wall so she could sidestep behind the flowing curtain of water and make her way into the cavern, and once she was inside, she turned around to peer at the rush of water. With it being nighttime, it was much darker therefore no sunlight to fracture off the water and reflect into the initial opening of the cavern like it had when she and Loki explored it the last time.

She had to go forward on instinct. She held her hands out in front of her as the darkness enveloped her, not able to rely on Loki's magically conjured torch. As she walked and walked, she stumbled only once, stepping on an errant stone. But eventually she was greeted by a certain amount of light at the end of the stony tunnel as she came upon the large, cavernous room where she had kissed Loki for the first time.

As she made her way, further into the cavernous room, she took note of the small fire that was built in the pit that had been discarded by someone else so very long ago. The makeshift bed was still there but it contained fresh linens and even some pillows that were colorful and pristine; clearly removed from somewhere in the palace. A few feet away, where several boulders were piled up, one such boulder had been turned into an altar of sorts. There were two lit candles, a golden bowl, a dagger and a clump of something else that Sigyn couldn't make out.

 _Took you long enough_ , came Loki's voice in her head.

"I got here as soon as—" she began to say but was cut off when Loki stepped out from the shadows and placed a finger upon her lips to hush her up.

_Don't speak out loud. In case anyone is listening in on us._

Sigyn narrowed her green eyes and scanned over to the altar _. What is all that?_

_It's for the ceremony._

_What ceremony?_

Loki took her hand in his and with his free hand, placed a wreath of flowers on top of her head. _Our marriage ceremony_ , he informed.

Sigyn threw him a surprised look as he led her to the altar. _How…who is marrying us?_

As they stood parallel to the altar, facing each other, Loki smirked. _I am._

_You are?_

_Yes._ He grabbed the dagger off the altar and looked at Sigyn who looked a bit nervous _. I spoke to my father after I left you alone earlier. I attempted to bring up the matter of you seeing your father, but like he did with you, he shot it down and wouldn't hear me out. So I tried to speak to him about us…being together, as man and wife._

_And?_

_He said he would not have us married; that he would not stand for it._ Loki scowled. _I bet you all the gold in the universe that if Thor was the one asking for your hand in marriage there would be endless fanfare. Anything I have ever truly wanted for myself, or have ever achieved has been eclipsed by whatever Thor has wanted or achieved. Well, this is one thing Thor will not have over me. This is something my father will not deny me._ Then he added, correcting himself, _us_.

_I do not want you to take me as your wife to spite your father and brother for how they have slighted you or me. I want you to take me as your wife because you love me and I am the only one who will ever own your heart._

_I assure you, I marry you strictly for those reasons. You make me feel like the greatest man to ever exist,_ he insisted. _Without you in my life, I don't think I will manage well._

Sigyn smirked. _Very well…_

_Is that a yes? Will you let me marry us?_

_I think the answer is rather obvious_ , she thought and raised an eyebrow.

Loki smiled and used the dagger to cut into the palm of his hand, creating a shallow wound that left a thin trail of blood in its wake. He then passed the dagger to Sigyn for her to do the same. When she gave herself the same wound, she handed the dagger back and he set it down on the altar.

_Give me your hand._

She gave him her cut hand and he clasped it against his, their blood intermingling _. Your blood is my blood, my blood is your blood_ , he began. _From this moment on, it is our blood_. He pulled their clasped hands over the golden bowl on the altar and squeezed harder, letting their mutual blood drip down into the shallow basin. With his free hand, Loki conjured a bottle of wine. He uncorked it with his teeth and spit the cork to the ground somewhere before pouring a good amount of wine into the bowl, diluting the drops of blood almost completely. He released their hands and lifted the bowl up between them. _This wine with our blood, symbolizes our life and our strength, and drinking from this bowl symbolizes the sharing of our lives together until the end of time_. Loki brought the bowl to his lips and swallowed a good amount down.

When Sigyn was handed the bowl, she was careful not to spill it. She brought it to her lips, staring at him over the rim, and then drank from it. She was ready to do whatever needed to be done to become his wife, even if only in their eyes only. When she had drunk a few gulps, she took it upon herself to set the bowl back down onto the altar.

She watched as he grabbed the one object she hadn't been sure about. It was a long strand of red string that he untwisted before proceeding to tie one end around his little finger.

 _This string symbolizes the string of fate; an invisible red thread that connects those who are destined to be together, regardless of time, place, or circumstance_. Loki knotted the string around his finger and then began to do the same to her little finger. _The thread may stretch or tangle…but it will never break_.

Sigyn smiled as he knotted the string around her finger. She looked down at it and then up at him. With their fingers connected with the red string, she took it upon herself to take his hands in hers.

 _I, Loki Odinson, prince of Asgard, take you as my wife_ , he announced telepathically. _You will be mine, forever and for always, beyond this life and the next, and until time itself ceases to be._

 _I, Sigyn, daughter of Vé Borson_ , she said, referring to her father by his given name, _take you as my husband._ _You will be mine, forever and for always, beyond this life and the next, and until time itself ceases to be._

"I love you," Loki spoke aloud.

Sigyn figured she would do the same, repeating, "And I love you."

Leaning forward, Loki kissed her upon the lips.

"You are now my wife," he whispered. "I am your husband. No matter what happens, we will never be parted, not truly."

Sigyn returned the kiss and he led her to the makeshift bed. "Ah, the marital bed, I take it?"

He let out a laugh. "Yes. I figured what better way to make it more official."

"I'm pretty sure we already did that a week ago."

Loki narrowed his eyes at her. "You know what I mean."

As he lowered them down to the makeshift bed, he laid her gently to the ground before sliding the strings off their fingers.

"Shouldn't that say on?" she asked, looking at the string and then up at him.

"How do you propose we get our clothes off then?"

"Good point," she remarked as the wreath atop her head fell off as she laid her head upon the pillows.

"The string is only symbolic. Not literal."

Letting the string fall to the ground he went about disrobing them both and, before either knew it, he was inside her. They had their limbs tightly wrapped around each other, grinding and rocking in time to the beat of their hearts. When they were finally spent, he rolled off her and she curled into his side; the arm he had underneath her, pulling their naked bodies, slick with a sheen of perspiration, closer together.

"I am going to find my father," she spoke after some time of the two of them just lying like that; her index finger drawing circles on his chest.

"I know."

"I'm leaving tomorrow and I don't know how long it will take, or when I will be back."

"I know," he repeated.

"You do?" She lifted her head slightly to look at his profile and he turned to look back at her.

"Yes, because I would do the same in your position." He placed a kiss on her lips. "As long as you return to me, that's all that matters."

"I'd ask you to come with me, but we don't need Odin unleashing the hounds upon us both," she tried to jest, but it fell flat.

"If Heimdall won't open the Bifrost for you, then I'll do what I can to find another way out of Asgard." He let out a sigh, encircling his opposite arm across her chest to pull her on top of him. She sat up, her legs on either side of his waist, and placed her hands on his shoulders. Loki reached his arms up to push her long, dark locks, that had slipped free from her leather ribbon, out of her face as he stared up at her. "I will wait for your return."

"What if something happens? What if I get lost? What then?"

"Then I will find you. I will always find you." He grabbed at the red string that lay discarded beside and gestured to it. "We are fated to be together forever, no matter what happens, remember?"

Sigyn smiled and leaned down, pressing her bare chest against his, kissing him hungrily against the lips. "How could I forget?" she quipped. "Tomorrow I leave, but tonight I am here in your arms."

"Right where you belong," he whispered into her mouth.

 


	13. Such Sweet Sorrow

* * *

 

It was barely a full day since becoming man and wife and Sigyn was preparing to leave. She was pacing around her chamber, grabbing a few items of clothing from her armoire, some toiletries, her brush, the ring her father had given her a few centuries prior when she was just a young girl, and her journal. She had her hair pushed behind her ears to keep it from falling into her face when she leaned forward; shoving the belongings into a deep, leather satchel she was going to take with her. Behind her, at the chair to her dressing table, sat Loki; slightly hunched forward with his hands folded between his knees as he watched her move about like a worker bee. They both had so many different things on their mind; their private wedding the night before, the marathon of lovemaking that had followed, her leaving shortly, worrying about something bad happening, anxiety, hope, anticipation, doubt.

Loki let his eyes travel over to the mantle over the fireplace where there was a wooden sculpture of a horse he remembered her father carving for her so very long ago. He remembered it because he had been there when the trinket had been completed. It was such a crisp memory, too. Loki and Sigyn were barely out of toddlerhood and Lodur had brought Loki with him and Sigyn out for a walk, as he did plenty of times in those days. More often than not, Odin was busy bonding more with Thor, taking him on small hunting trips that were acceptable for a young child to partake in, which usually left Loki behind with the excuse that he was still too young to join his father and brother. Loki wasn't able to understand that and only saw it as he was being excluded. He remembered crying and wrapping his little arms around his mother's legs; because back then, he wasn't tall enough to reach her waist.

For whatever reason, one particular occasion when Odin had taken Thor out with him, Lodur had been at the palace and seen Loki's distraught reaction. He got down on bended knee, a little Sigyn at his side, holding his hand, and ushered a sniveling Loki over to him. Hesitant and trying to be a big boy by wiping his tears quickly away, Loki walked over to his uncle, who placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, inviting him to join him and Sigyn for a walk; that maybe they would find an "adventure" of their own. Taking both his daughter and his nephew's hands, they left the palace and eventually made it to the lake where Sigyn and Loki would eventually share many a moment, together and with the others their age. There used to be a hollowed log near the water's edge then and Lodur had the two children sit down and stay put before returning moments later with two pieces of driftwood in one hand and a knife in the other.

Lodur sat down between the pair and began to carve into the first piece of driftwood, telling a story about a tree that started out small and frail, was teased by the older trees, but soon grew into a tall tree that was strong with deep roots, that provided shade and fruit and that had leaves that shined like green satin. Loki didn't understand the meaning of the story then; just that his uncle Lodur had a soothing quality to how he spoke. He could've been going on and on about bugs circling horse droppings and it would've sounded enthralling. Loki and Sigyn just stared at Lodur, content to watch him as he spoke and carved away. When he was finished, a wooden horse was the result. He handed it to Sigyn, who beamed up at her father. Loki felt a pang of jealousy and pouted up at his uncle, who smirked at the young boy, insisting he hadn't forgotten him, then asking what he would like carved.

Loki leaned forward to look around his uncle at Sigyn, admiring her wooden horse, and then looked up at his uncle. "I want a horse, too. I want to be the same," little Loki had said.

Lodur had looked at his nephew, placed a hand behind the boy's neck and smiled. "Sometimes being different isn't a terrible thing," he had replied, as if he knew something important but wasn't going to reveal it anytime soon. "But if you want to be the same, the same you will have." And he went about carving another horse.

Loki remembered loving that little, wooden horse. Though, as the years passed on, he eventually set it aside and now, as he watched Sigyn busy herself with packing, he wondered whatever happened to his little horse.

"You're awfully quiet," Sigyn commented, breaking Loki out of his reverie.

He blinked and found her staring at him from over her shoulder. "What? No, I was just thinking of a fond memory."

"Oh? Of what?"

"Your father, actually." Loki stood up and walked over to the mantle, picking up the wooden horse. "Remember when he carved this and one for me as well?"

Sigyn looked to what he was referring to. "Yes," she smirked. "That has sat there for so long, there are probably inches of dust on it."

"Not a speck," he replied. "Your maid keeps your chamber pristine."

"Well, lately it has been a mess, no thanks to us," Sigyn grinned mischievously. She was, of course, referring to several of their love making sessions within the last week, when the bed wasn't the only surface they had utilized.

"Yes, well…" he trailed, not bothering to or needing to finish that sentence. He threw her a grin of his own, though. "I was wondering if I may keep this with me, for safe keeping until you return; something to remind me of you in your absence."

Sigyn stopped all her packing and considered, then smiled softly. "Of course. There is no one I would rather entrust it to."

"Thank you." He held the small object in his hands, remembering it seeming much bigger. Then again, he had been much smaller when his and her wooden horses had been carved. Placing it into the pocket of his leather waistcoat, he stepped up behind Sigyn who had returned her focus to her satchel, which she was now closing. Casually, he wrapped his arms around her torso and clasped his hands in front of her while resting his chin down on her shoulder. "Is there nothing I can do to persuade you to stay?"

Sigyn leaned her head back slightly, smiling at the feel of him encircling her; leaving absolutely no room between her back and his chest at all. "Oh, I am sure there is plenty you could do," she assured. "But this is something I need to do; consequences be damned."

"I know, I just…now that you are my wife, I don't want you to leave my sight even for a second."

Swiveling around in his embrace so that she could face him, Sigyn placed her hands on his chest and slowly moved them upwards to the sides of his face. "You have given me a reason to come home sooner than I was initially planning, if it makes you feel any better. I mean, I do not know how long it will take me to find my father, but when I do, I won't stay with him as long as I originally intended. Maybe only a few weeks." She stood on tiptoe to kiss the tip of his nose, and then settled on his lips. "I just want to see him for a little while; so he can know me as I am now and vice versa, and so that so we can have a proper goodbye." She kissed him again. "You are my life now and wherever you are is where I will want to be. My father is my past and I need to put it to rest so I can focus on our future."

Her assurances didn't completely convince him; a part of him still had this ball of nerves festering in the pit of his stomach, feeling as if something terrible might happen. He worried about if it did, would he be able to be there for her? Could he be at her side in a moment's notice, taking her into his arms and telling her all would be fine? Loki simply wanted to give her a wonderful life, and he was certain he could provide her with one, as long as they were together, despite the hurdle they would have to get over where his father's stubbornness was concerned. As a prince of Asgard, he had to right and the ability to marry any couple in the entire realm, because he was of official standing. That meant marrying himself to Sigyn was, in fact, legal and binding in the eyes of the kingdom. Loki knew Odin's ravens and Heimdall were most likely spying and even though they wouldn't have heard the ceremony because of it being spoken telepathically, they could see it being performed. All this considered however, being married or not, if Sigyn was not in the realm, she was beyond his protection and he greatly feared that.

"I think I am all set," she announced, lifting her satchel and placing the strap on her shoulder. She grabbed up a green cloak in one arm, letting it drape, and then looked at him. "Are you ready?"

He cast his eyes toward her and feigned a smile. "Of course." He offered her his hand. "Shall we leave by way of your balcony?"

Sigyn smirked. "No, we will leave out the front door."

"And what of your mother?"

"Let her watch me as I go." She held out her free hand to him, which he took, and she took the lead as they removed themselves from her bed chamber.

They walked side by side, hand in hand, down the hallway; the heels of their respective shoes echoing off the marble floor. When they rounded the corner and made their way down to the grand staircase, Sigyn's youngest sister Hnoss appeared at the balustrade overlooking the entrance hall. Sigyn and Loki both noticed the girl out the corner of their eyes but made no gesture to otherwise acknowledge her presence. They walked casually and with purpose down the grand staircase and as they reached the front doors, Freya finally appeared, simply by chance.

"Where are you off to, dressed like that? Are going somewhere?" she inquired, ignoring the fact that her daughter and the dark haired prince were holding hands.

"I'm going away for a while, mother," was Sigyn's response as the doorman opened the door for Loki and her. Without another word or waiting for a response from her mother, the pair walked outside into the waning evening air.

They had decided to travel by way of Loki's horse alone, as he would be the only one returning from the Bifrost and that way he wouldn't have to bring two horses back with him. He got up first onto his horse and then held his hand out for her, which she took to pull herself up behind him. She gripped her legs against the animal and wrapped one arm around Loki's waist while the other gripped her cloak and satchel between their bodies as she leaned against his back. And, at once, they were off. Loki led the horse through a few side streets toward the palace, and then bypassed that to get onto the rainbow bridge leading from the City of Asgard and out of its gates which were opened by guards for them as they approached. As the gates closed behind them, Sigyn stole a look over her shoulder, taking in the sight of her home realm for the last time in however long it would take her to find her father, visit with him shortly, and return. When she turned her head back around, she pressed her face into Loki's shoulder blade, inhaling his scent and closing her eyes momentarily. As soon as she reopened them, she found herself staring over Loki's shoulder at the Observatory where Heimdall was standing with his sword firmly placed in front of him, standing still and stoic. Beyond that, was the abyss of space; the edge of Asgard that drifted off toward the billions of stars, nebulas, and galaxies and, more importantly, the other eight realms belonging to Yggdrasil.

As they came upon Heimdall, guarding the Bifrost, Loki brought his horse to slower pace before stopping altogether. Just like how he helped Sigyn up, he helped her down, before getting down himself. Taking her hand in his once more, the two of them approached Heimdall with purpose.

"Good Heimdall—" Loki began.

"You better return, young lady," Heimdall interrupted, casting his all-seeing gaze at Sigyn.

She knew he knew their purpose for being there. He saw all, as was his job. "You know I cannot. I have good reason to be here."

"It goes against the express wishes of the All-father. You wish to disobey him?"

"I wish to see my father, plain and simple."

"It is forbidden."

"Fraternizing with my father is forbidden, leaving is not." Sigyn sidled up to Heimdall, casually throwing her cloak around her shoulders. "Perhaps I will write him a letter and find a mortal messenger to give it to him when I figure out his whereabouts." She peered up into Heimdall's golden eyes while placing a hand on the dark skin of his bicep, staring imploringly at him. "Heimdall, you knew my father once. Whatever his slight was against the All-father, he was a good man, was he not?"

"He was," Heimdall agreed, with nary a change in his impassive expression.

"Is it fair that he is alive, so far from all those he ever knew and loved, never able to see his only child grow up? Is it fair that I have had to live these great, many years without my father? It would be different if he were dead, then I could accept the loss, but he is living; therefore I am owed the chance to have him in my life, even if only for a day."

Sigyn could see Heimdall's resolve weakening, if only in his eyes. Loki took the opportunity to join in on his wife's behalf. "I will take all responsibility for her leaving. Whatever punishment would be placed upon her when she returns, I will accept as my own. We are as one now; she is my wife, Heimdall. Surely, my father would take leniency on his own son and niece, prince and princess of Asgard."

Heimdall turned his head to Loki then. "So you are indeed wed," he remarked. There seemed to be a bemused pull at the corners of his lips; hinting to a ghost of a smile. "I could not hear what was being exchanged between the two of you last night, but I saw what transpired."

Sigyn looked to Loki, then back to Heimdall. "Were you watching the entire time, Heimdall?"

"When your wedding ceremony progressed to something else, I removed my sight and focused on other things. I was not a voyeur on your wedding night, or during any of your other… _escapades_."

Loki simply smirked. "Good to know you have your boundaries."

Sigyn still had her hand on Heimdall. "Please, Heimdall. Please let me through the Bifrost. Even though Loki insists on being punished in my place, I do not wish him to. I gladly accept whatever punishment will be handed down. It will be worth it to see my father again, just once. After all, how harsh could the punishment be? I am his niece and now his daughter by marriage, a princess of the realm."

"He banished your father, his own brother and crown prince of Asgard, for attempting to usurp the throne," Heimdall commented, dryly.

"Yes, but I have no plans to usurp any throne, just to see the usurper; to show him the woman I have become and see with my own eyes that he is well. At least, well _enough_."

"You are certain of this decision?" Heimdall inquired. "You accept whatever punishment you face upon you leaving this realm?"

"Yes," Sigyn answered, her voice unwavering.

"Very well." Heimdall turned, bringing his five foot sword Hǫfuð with him. The Gatekeeper of Asgard led the way into the Observatory at the end of the Bifrost Bridge; his gait majestic and foreboding at the same time.

Loki reached out and took Sigyn's hand as the two of them followed. They walked around the circular platform that Heimdall had ascended, sword in hand. The wedded couple stood in front of Asgard's gateway to the other realms, looking at each other with anxiety and nervous smiles.

"I will come with you if you ask me to," Loki offered, adjusting her cloak around her shoulders for her. He stared her in the eye as he tied it on so it would not fall off as she traveled through the Bifrost.

Sigyn smiled at the gesture; both the verbal and the physical. "I could not have you do that, as much as I want you with me at all times."

"But we are one now," he reminded with an impish grin. "Where you go, I go; vice versa."

"Exactly. If we are truly one, you will be with me." She placed a hand over her heart. "In here."

"We could find your father together," he continued, this time a bit more serious.

"In probably half the time it would take me on my own, I've no doubt, but I need to do this alone, and you need to hold the fort here; keep the home fires burning till I return."

"I will count the seconds." His gaze wandered to her lips as he raised his hands to the sides of her face. Brushing his right thumb over her bottom lip, he paid no mind to Heimdall standing mere feet away, facing their direction. Loki leaned in to kiss his wife, hungrily and full of love that was ready to burst out of his chest at any moment. He loved her so much that he wanted to climb the tallest mountain peak in all of Asgard to exclaim it for all to hear.

Sighing against his lips and into the cavern of his mouth, Sigyn practically melted into him as she embraced him. She ran her arms up his back gripping the leather material covering his shoulders as she pressed her face against his chest. Inhaling his scent, she wanted to keep it as fresh in her mind as possible for she knew not just how long her journey into Midgard would take her before she returned to these loving arms once more.

"I hope my time away from you will only feel like seconds," Sigyn murmured against his chest. She raised her chin and looked up at him. _Kiss me again_ , she thought to him.

Loki smirked and obliged, claiming her lips with his once more while letting his tongue slip inside her mouth for a moment; their saliva mingling with one another. _If you do not leave now I will not be able to stop myself from throwing you to the ground and having my way with you right here in front of poor Heimdall._

Sigyn let out a snort of laughter and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. She shot a look over to Heimdall who looked serious as usual. _Even if he turned his backs to us, he could still see_ , she laughed in her mind.

 _What a show we would give him_. Loki snickered and held her tightly with one arm around her back. He kissed the top of her head and then turned to look at the Bifrost opening to his right; her left.

"If you are still planning to leave, this is your only window of opportunity. I will make one last attempt to sway you away from your decision," Heimdall spoke, cutting into their mental conversation which was nothing more than looks between the couple and otherwise silence to the Gatekeeper.

"I am not swayed," Sigyn assured. "My decision remains the same."

"As you wish, Lady Sigyn," Heimdall responded, lifting up Hǫfuð by its handle and aiming the point of the blade down. "Step aside, Loki, unless you plan to leave with your wife, after all."

Loki hesitated, but Sigyn placed her hand upon his chest. They didn't need to communicate with words or thoughts. Her eyes said enough to let him know it was all okay, that she loved him, and to step aside. Walking backward a few feet, Loki never took his eyes off her, and all the while his heart beat began to race. He was nervous for her. She had never gone through the Bifrost alone before. Sigyn's only other time through it had been when she left for shield maiden training and when she returned, and both of those times she had been with the other girls her age that she had trained alongside. She was going off to a realm she had never been to before, and with no one she would know, to search high and low for the father she hadn't seen in so very long. He probably looked quite different; he would've aged quite a bit more since the last time she saw him and Loki could only hope Lodur hadn't changed too much so it was easier for Sigyn to find him. Mostly Loki worried for her safety. He knew no man or woman on Midgard would be any match for her, but she was not immune to injury or death. It would just take about ten times the amount to injure or kill her than it would a human.

These were the fears running circles in Loki's mind. He just prayed for her to have a successful mission, if it could be called that, and a swift return.

"Say your goodbyes," Heimdall spoke, his voice booming off the walls of the Observatory.

"No," Loki shook his head, glancing momentarily at Heimdall. "No goodbyes." He looked back to Sigyn, his love. "Farewell, my wife. I will see you soon."

Sigyn turned her body to face the opening to the Bifrost, but she was looking back at Loki. "Farewell, my husband." She smiled. "I will try to be as quick as I can."

Heimdall pushed Hǫfuð down into the mechanism that brought the Bifrost to life. The golden spike atop the Observatory began to move down; pointing out toward the cosmos as the walls around the Observatory began to spin faster than any of them inside could blink. The Bifrost gate was no longer a glimpse of space but a swirling maelstrom of colors and lights.

"I love you, Loki!" Sigyn shouted over the roar of the Observatory humming with life as it spun.

"I love y—" he started to reply. He stopped short when Sigyn's body was abruptly pulled into the Bifrost and gone without a moment's notice. The Bifrost, aimed in the direction of Midgard, funneled forward at light speed. Meanwhile, Loki was just left standing there, staring at the Bifrost gate that was slowing down. The walls around him gradually coming to a halt and the spike moved back to its position on top of the Observatory. "I love you, too, Sigyn," he whispered, his eyes growing sad as he looked down at the ground. His shoulders even slumped, signaling his despondency from her being away from him, so far away.

As Heimdall unsheathed Hǫfuð from the mechanism and stepped down from the platform, he looked upon the prince whose heart was already aching for his love.

"The All-father requests your presence at once."

Loki turned his watery eyes over to Heimdall; despite the tears stinging, he kept his composure and did his best to swallow back the lump in his throat. "No doubt he saw the Bifrost being activated and wants to berate me for letting Sigyn leave." He attempted to smirk but it fell flat.

As Loki casually made his way around the platform, past Heimdall and out of the Observatory, the Gatekeeper followed; Hǫfuð still in hand.

"For what it's worth, Loki," Heimdall began to speak. "I am sorry."

Loki looked over his shoulder at the large man behind him as he approached his horse. "Sorry for what? For the tongue-lashing I'm about to receive." Loki let out a small chuckle. "Fear not, good Heimdall. It is not the first, nor will it be the last, I am sure."

"That is not what I am sorry about."

Loki narrowed his gaze. "Then what _are_ you sorry about?"

"It is not for me to say at this time," the Gatekeeper vaguely replied. "I would not keep the All-father waiting."

Throwing Heimdall a look that suggested he was useless, in regard to information, Loki pulled himself up onto his horse and grabbed the reins. He looked over Heimdall's head at the Observatory and the cosmos beyond it. Somewhere, worlds away, Sigyn was arrived to Midgard; alone, probably disoriented. Loki sighed and turned his horse around to face the City of Asgard. Before he knew it, his horse was off and galloping along the Bifrost Bridge; headed toward the city gates.

 

* * *

 

Loki held his head high as he sauntered into the throne room, knowing the verbal beating would very well knock him down a few pegs. He needed to show his support in his wife's decision to leave, because he truly believed she had the right to do so. Her going to see her father, a criminal in the eyes of the realm, was no different than any family member being allowed to see their criminal loved one behind the bars of their Asgardian prison cell. Sigyn merely had to go a considerable amount further and may not even be successful in her trip.

As he approached, he saw not only his father upon his throne, with his ravens perched overhead, but also his mother and brother Thor were present. Was this a family intervention? Were they, all three of them, brought together to openly mock and chastise the younger prince? Loki built up an air of caution around him, careful how he was about to tread and unsure of the intent of his "audience."

"Father, mother," he nodded, to each, and then looked toward Thor. "Brother."

"Loki, my son," Odin spoke in a tone that suggested grief and empathy. Had someone died? Oh no, could he see what happened to Sigyn? Was she alright?

"Odin, my father," Loki mimicked, trying to keep the situation light by adding some jest into the seriousness. There was no point in beating around the bush, "I assume you know Sigyn has left."

Odin stared downward and simply nodded. It was Frigga who spoke up.

"I am so sorry, my dear," she cooed apologetically.

Loki knitted his brow together, fear lumping in his chest and feeling heavy, light a lead weight. "Why is everyone saying that to me? Why are you all so sorry?" he bit out, eyeing his parents and ignoring the mix of compassion and confusion on Thor's face.

"Loki, Sigyn is gone from this realm, never to return." Both Loki and Thor looked at their father at the same time. It would appear Thor was out of the loop as to the Sigyn and Loki shenanigans. "She has disobeyed my demands and now her punishment stands as such."

"What do you mean?"

"Where did Sigyn go, father?" Thor cut in, looking momentarily to his mother.

Odin ignored Thor's question for the time being to focus on Loki. "She went against me, she has left Asgard to find her father, a known traitor and attempted usurper of this throne. Any contact with him is a traitorous act."

"He is her father," Loki growled, throwing all that caution he had built up to the wind. "He is your brother, your flesh and blood! How can you care so little about their lives, their fates?"

"I care a great deal," Odin replied, keeping his cool.

"You have a funny way of showing it, father. How is Sigyn seeing her criminal of a father any different than any other Asgardian citizen being allowed to visit their loved one in their prison cell? Where does your logic lay, father? Where?"

"I might be your father, but I am your king as well; I need not explain my reasons to you."

Loki scoffed. "What did Lodur really do, anyway? I was so young when he was banished; all I know of what happened is from hearsay. Did Ve Borson, crown prince of Asgard and rightful heir to the throne after Thor and I, raise an army to take the kingdom by force? Your brother Vili was already dead some years by that point; were you scared of your place upon the throne not being secure as long as there was another son of Bor living here? Did you trump the charges against your own brother? Is _that_ it? It would make more sense to me. When Vili died, his power was given to you, and with Ve out of the way, you would have all the powers of the sons of Bor, rolled up in one; in you."

"Why do you think such—" Odin was cut off by Loki for once.

"It would make sense if the latter was the case. I do not recall Ve, or Lodur as we all called him, being anything more than a gentle soul. You were like Thor is now. You called to war; you loved the thrill of battle while Lodur preferred the sidelines, didn't he? He was much happier at home; taking walks, reading, and spending time with his…" Loki faltered for a moment in the severity of his claims. "His daughter." Sigyn's face flashed in front of his mind's eye and Loki was able to calm his nerves down. He took a few steadying breaths. Odin didn't bother to speak and Frigga and Thor felt no need to do so either at the moment. "He was the kindest man I ever knew. He loved his daughter and he treated me more like a son than a nephew at times. When you took Thor with you on your fatherly excursions and left me behind, Lodur was the one who stepped up to the plate and took me under his wing, made me feel included. Did you know that, father? Even your brother could tell how evident your favoritism in Thor is."

"I love you and your brother the same, Loki."

Loki let out a contemptuous laugh. "And I am supposed to be the talented liar in the family."

"Darling, your father means well in his actions," Frigga spoke up.

"Not well enough it would seem, mother." He glared at his father, tears beginning to sting harshly at his eyes. "What is to be done to Sigyn? What is her official punishment for going against the ridiculous word of the all mighty Odin?" he lashed.

Odin stood with Gungnir, and while his stance was regal and commanding, his shoulders were slouched and eyes disheartened. There was sadness to him. "For the act of disobeying the expressed command of her king, abandoning her realm to seek out the audience of a known traitor to the kingdom, Sigyn Vesdóttir, is hereby banished from Asgard and to remain on Midgard for the rest of her life, however long it may be."

Loki's mouth fell agape and heart leapt into his throat. "No," was all he could manage to mutter, his head shaking.

"Any and all who in turn seek any form of contact with Sigyn or her father will share the same fate. If you or Thor or any other go to Midgard, for any reason, you may not seek Sigyn or her father out, you may not have any form of communication with them. If you even see them, you must turn away and leave. They are as dead to us now."

"No," Loki muttered again. Clenching his teeth together, he shot daggers at his father through his tear-stained eyes. "No!" he shouted. "You cannot banish Sigyn! I love her! She is my _wife_!"

Frigga and Thor both snapped their attention to Loki. "Brother, is this true?" Thor asked, taking a few steps closer to Loki. "Have you taken our lovely cousin as a bride?" He seemed genuinely happy for his younger brother and was able to overlook the prospect of any taboo over the liaison. "For what it is worth, I offer my congratulations," he spoke in a lower voice for only him and Loki to hear.

Loki glanced up at his brother for a moment, and then grimaced as he looked back toward their father. "How can you banish the wife of your son? Just how much of a bastard can you be?"

"I did not give any blessing for such a union."

"I did not need your blessing, nor did I want it," he hissed; the latter part being a lie, however. He wanted his father's approval and acceptance of his choice of wife. He just never received it. "I have spent enough time in the libraries to have come across the laws and bylaws in regard to marriage in Asgard. As a prince, an official figurehead of the realm of Asgard, I have the right to marry anyone who desires to be wed, if I so choose, so long as they are not siblings. Cousins, in fact, are quite allowed." Loki took a few steps forward, reaching the bottom of the steps up toward the throne where his father stood, staring up at him. "And the best part is the small addendum I found that any officiate, such as myself, can in fact marry themself to anyone of their choosing if their intended will have them. Therefore, my marriage to Sigyn is legal and binding and does not require the blessing of the seated monarch."

"Whether or not your marriage is binding or not, Loki," Odin began, "Sigyn is banished. How do you expect your marriage to remain intact?"

"Because I love her. That is how." Loki had tears streaming down his face, but he kept his head held high despite it, as if he weren't crying at all. "Does one stop loving another when they die? No. Just because you have banished my wife and forbidden me to have any contact with her does not mean I will love her any less. She is my wife and will be my _only_ wife until the day I die, however far off that is. You will not achieve any matrimonial alliances with me if that was one of your plans."

Frigga's heart was visibly aching for her son. She wanted to reach out and hold him to her bosom as she did when he was just a child.

"It was never my intention for you to end up this heartbroken, my son," Odin remarked. "I have only ever wanted the best for you."

"Well, you know what they say about best intentions," Loki quipped. "Sigyn is the best there is, and I cannot have her in my life anymore because of you, so your intentions mean very little to me now." He turned away from his parents and looked to Thor. "Let us leave here, brother. I feel to great need for lots of mead. I trust you know the perfect place for the strongest blend."

"I do, yes, but is drowning your sorrows really the way you want to go?"

"It is the only way I have at the moment."

Loki turned away completely and began to walk off without a word further to his mother or father and without waiting to see if Thor was following, which he was.

"Loki," Odin called after.

The dark-haired prince stopped but didn't look back. He just stood there, waiting for whatever words came spewing forth from the All-father's lips.

"Knowledge of your marriage to Sigyn does not leave this room. The only people who will know of it will be us four and Heimdall, no one else. Am I clear?"

Loki flashed a sneer that went unseen to the others. "Crystal."

Without missing a beat, he removed himself from the throne room; Thor merely steps behind. He did not stop moving even after he went to his horse. Thor did the same, calling for his white steed to be brought to him from the stables. Side by side the brothers Odinson rode through the city streets, with Thor taking the lead in order to show the way to the ale house he found particularly pleasing when he required the highest quality of mead and merriment. It also had the highest quality of serving maids but he doubted that was what Loki required at this time. When they arrived and dismounted, Loki hesitated from entering inside and instead began to walk off to the dirt-laden alley behind the establishment; his shoulders hunched forward and his head bowed. He was kicking at stones and random bits of straw that lined his path. Thor followed suit, curious to know what his brother was about.

"Loki, the entrance was in the front."

"Obviously I do not want to go inside right now, do I?" Meandering up to a crate of something, Loki kicked it, sending it flying a few feet away into nothing more than errant chunks and splinters of wood.

"Brother…" Thor reached out a hand and touched it down upon Loki's shoulder.

"How do I live my life without Sigyn? How do I pretend that her banishment isn't the hardest thing I will ever have to endure and to do it with a straight face? Everyone knows she and I were close, whether they knew the extent of our relationship or not. Everyone knows we were — _are_ — the best of friends at the very least. How do I go on acting like she is nothing more when all I want is to shout from the mountain tops that she is my wife and I love her with every fiber of my being?" As Loki spoke, tears had reappeared and were streaming down his face, finding their way into the corners of his mouth. He spit, unintentionally, as he spoke and the pain was so evident on his face.

"I am very sorry you have to suffer this, brother. I believe you and Sigyn were perfect together; you complimented each other like no one other couple I have ever known. And I hope Sigyn fairs well on Midgard without you. I hope the life she will lead there will not be lonely and that she finds her father."

"It means a lot to me, Thor. It really does." Loki looked up at Thor, wiping away his tears as best he could. "It pleases me to know you supported Sigyn and me together."

"I support anything you do, Loki, so long as it doesn't put the realm or the lives of innocent people in danger."

"Good to know," Loki attempted to jest. He sank down onto a second crate, folding his hands together between his knees, but still remained hunched in his posture.

Thor pulled a barrel over and went to sit down on it, but his weight was too massive for the empty structure that it collapsed under him and he fell back on his ass which brought a laugh to Loki's lips. The younger brother raised a hand to his face to cover his smile and contain his laughter. Despite his mood and the grief of losing any chance to be with Sigyn again, the laughter felt good. He looked down at Thor who smiled as well.

"Well, that was rather surprising," Thor remarked with a laugh of his own.

"Really? You weigh the equivalent of twenty of those barrels, full. What makes you think a discarded, empty one would maintain your girth?"

"Positive thinking?"

Both brothers laughed a bit, but soon it faded and the situation that brought them to the ale house came back to the forefront. A shadow passed over them, and Loki's shoulders felt heavy again. Feeling good as he had with Sigyn would be a long way off. It would be a long road to travel to feel the same way again. But, as Asgardians, time was all they really had. It just depended on how they occupied it.

Thor got to his feet, foregoing any further attempts to sit down. He slapped Loki on the back and gestured to the ale house. "Come; let us drown your woes, brother."

Loki nodded and stood up, letting Thor lead the way. "Sounds like a plan."

 

* * *

 

A cloud of dirt and dust billowed up around the man-sized crater in the ground as a woman and two children stood at the edge of it, looking down, waving the dirt out of their faces. It was night, and the only light available came from the full moon and stars overhead in the black sky.

"Mama, what is it?" asked the young boy with shaggy brown hair.

"Is it a fallen star?" asked the young girl with her red hair pulled back in a long braid.

The woman, the children's mother, stood between her son and daughter, holding them close. She had long brown hair and wore a dress that had seen better days, if not years. There was dirt on her face and her lips were chapped. She was still a young woman but she was world weary.

"I do not know, children," she replied.

As the smoke cleared and the cloud of dirt began to dissipate, the figure of person lying amidst the crater became visible. The young mother brought a hand to her mouth.

"Mama! It's a woman!"

"She fell from the sky, mama! Does that mean she is an angel?"

"H-hello?" the mother called out. "Are you okay?"

The woman in the crater moved suddenly, scaring the mother and her children a bit. The woman began to lift her arms and pull herself up as her eyes opened and she took in the sight around her. She rolled onto her side and pulled herself up to her knees and reached out for the satchel that lay beside her. Slowly but surely she stood up, but stumbled a bit. As she turned around and found herself being stared at by another woman and two children, she narrowed her gaze.

"Is this Midgard?" she demanded.

"Is this what?"

"Where am I? Did I make it to Midgard? _Heimdall!_ "

"Mama, she's saying strange words. What's a Midgard?" the daughter asked.

"Mary, hush," the mother spoke, pushing her children back as she tried to step down into the shallow crater. "Miss, can I help you at all?"

"Miss? I am a lady of Asgard, the wife of a prince! This place…" her eyes crossed, becoming increasingly disoriented. "Is spinning."

Closing her eyes she dropped to her knees but the mother was quick to catch her, thought she fell back under the unexpected weight of the woman.

" _Unnfff_ ," the mother groaned. "Mary, James…bring our cart. We're going to carry her home with us. She may be injured."

"But, mama, she is a stranger that fell from the sky," Mary whined.

"She is a woman who is unwell and needs our kindness. Do what I say. Get the cart."

The children ran off to a wooden cart several yards away near the edge of a forest, leaving the mother alone with the unconscious woman. She brushed some hair out of her face and sighed, wondering how a woman not much taller than her and of the same basic body type could weigh so damn much.

"How did you survive such a fall?" the mother asked, more to herself since the unconscious woman was in no position to answer.

 


	14. A New Life

* * *

 

When Sigyn awoke, she was unsure of just how much time had passed and where exactly she was. She bolted upright without a second thought, finding wool blankets covering her body up to her torso. Her green cloak was missing as was her satchel. Throwing the blanket off of her she jumped up to her feet and knocked over a small bedside table in the process, startling her. She stilled as she heard the sudden shuffling of feet coming from a second room off of the one she was in.

"Who is there? Show yourself."

At once, the young mother she had seen before losing consciousness stepped into the doorway. She held a cloth in one hand and what looked to be a bowl of water in the other. "Oh, you're awake," the mother muttered, nonchalantly. "It is good to see you did not die of any injuries from your fall."

"Where am I? Who are you to keep me here?"

"You are in my home, and my children and I brought you here because we weren't about to leave you in a hole you made when you fell from the sky. And my name is Astrid, Astrid Thornley."

Sigyn gave Astrid a proper once over and then chose to sit back down on the bed. "Where is your home located, Astrid Thornley? This realm is Midgard, correct?"

"You said that before you passed out," Astrid remarked, handing Sigyn the bowl of water so she could put the bedside table back upright, but with more effort it took for Sigyn to knock it over. "I have no idea what you mean by Midgard." Once the table was upright, she took the bowl of water back from Sigyn and set it on the surface of the table.

"Midgard is one of the nine worlds of Yggdrasil, inhabited by and known to humans."

Astrid made a face that suggested she was accepting this explanation even though Sigyn sounded a little on the insane side. "Then, yes, this is Midgard. Though, we humans call this world Earth. There our," she gestured between the two of them, "confusion lies." Astrid dipped the cloth into the bowl of water, gave it a slight wringing before, without warning, bringing it to Sigyn's face to wipe off some dirt.

On instinct, Sigyn pulled back from the gesture, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "What are you doing, Astrid Thornley?"

"Being a good Samaritan," she replied with an amused smile. "And you don't have to call me by my full name. You can call me just Astrid." As Sigyn began to lean into the now wet cloth, allowing Astrid to cleanse her face of any and all dirt and debris she acquired in her literal fall to Mid— _Earth_ , she let her walls come down a little. "What is your name again? I didn't really catch it before. Silvia, did you say?"

Sigyn made a face. "No. I am Lady Sigyn of Asgard, daughter of Ve Borsdóttir and wife of Loki Odinson, crown prince of Asgard."

"So, you are a princess, then?"

"Yes, I suppose so. My father was a prince once, before he was banished to this world, and now through my marriage to a prince…yes, that would make me a princess." Sigyn considered this, having not thought much on acquiring such a formal title by marrying Loki. It had never crossed her mind other than being his bride. She had assumed only that they would be married and would start a family together; to be allowed the same benefits of a union as any other couple. But that would have to be on hold for now, until she found her father. "Titles are not important to me. Finding my father is." Sigyn stood up, pushing aside the washcloth and damn near knocking Astrid over from the gesture. "I do not have time for these civilities. I have come here for a reason."

"To look for your father, yes," Astrid nodded, "but you are not from here, clearly. How do you expect to find your way?" She set the cloth into the bowl of water on the bedside table and folded her arms across her chest, watching as Sigyn meandered around the room, as if looking for an escape room, but making no immediate move to leave.

"I was trained as a shield maiden. Part of those years of training included the hunting down of your prey for survival or to hunt down your hidden enemy. I will make do."

"I wager you trained in terrains and places you were familiar with."

Sigyn turned and narrowed her eyes at Astrid. "Well, yes."

"Then I have made my point. You cannot simply wander off with only the clothes on your back and no idea of where your father is, other than hope. You'll need more than that."

"Such as?"

"Friends."

Sigyn scoffed. "I do not need friends, human."

"Everybody needs friends," insisted Astrid. After a long pause, she took a step forward and with a shrug, she added, "You can stay here, if you would like. I don't have an extra bed, but it is just me in mine. You may share my bed. I will be your friend."

"Your casual manner in which you offer friendship and lodging leaves the door open for danger to you and your children." Sigyn tilted her head to one side, considering Astrid's goodness. "I could be a monster for all you know."

"You're right. You could be. But by that logic, so could I. You don't know me either. My children could actually be my slaves. I could be a succubus who lures men and women alike into my home only to devour their flesh and their souls."

Sigyn made the faintest attempt at a smile. "The possibilities of our respective motives are clearly endless." She stepped forward into the doorway of the room, looking out into a room, slightly bigger than the bedroom, with a wooden table and chairs, a hearth, several cooking utensils, and dried meats and herbs hanging from the wooden ceiling beams. She heard the shuffle of extra pairs of feet before she saw who they belonged to.

Poking their heads out of another room near the hearth, Astrid's two children were looking uneasily back at Sigyn; though with an ounce of curiosity. Sigyn jerked forward on purpose, just to give them a bit of a scare for her own amusement; causing them to reel backward into room she figured might be a second bedroom they shared. She placed the palms of her hands on both each side of the doorframe and took a better inspection of the interior of the kitchen which doubled as a scullery, greeting room and general living space. She realized that, aside from the kitchen, the bedroom she was in and the room the children were in, there were no more rooms. Sigyn turned back to look at Astrid with her brow raised, questioningly.

"Where is your washroom?"

"My what?"

"Where do you bathe and relieve yourself?"

Astrid gave a small laugh. "Oh, we have a washtub out in that room. We fill buckets of water from the well outside and heat it over the fire when we want to take baths. There's a latrine outside the house, about eight metres to the right, near an oak tree."

Sigyn made a face of disgust. "How ghastly."

"I'm sorry, princess, but not all of us are fortunate to live in the laps of luxury." Astrid rolled her eyes, grabbed the bowl with cloth and walked forward, going as far as to blatantly push past Sigyn so that she could head into the kitchen. She set the bowl down long enough to wring the cloth out and then opened the door that lead into the house, tossing the dirtied water out onto the grass and gravel beyond the threshold.

"Did you just dare to condescend to me?"

"If you're asking whether or not I called you out for acting like a pompous arse, then yes."

Sigyn and Astrid focused their attentions on one another; eyes unwavering in their sight. That is, until an impish smirk splayed at the corners of the Asgardian's mouth.

"I think I will take you up on your offer of hospitality," Sigyn acquiesced. "I shall use this nominal homestead of yours as my temporary shelter while I begin my search for my father."

"Very well." Astrid closed the house door and set the empty bowl back upon the table. "It is too late for you to start now and you have clearly come a very great distance. You must be hungry and tired." She gestured to a pot hanging over the fire in the hearth. "There is some stew in the pot you can help yourself to." She pushed the unwashed bowl she had just been using across the table in Sigyn's direction. "You can use that. Ladle's in the pot."

"You want me to fend for myself and to use an unclean bowl? Am I not a guest in your home?"

"You have two hands and are very capable of doing for yourself." Astrid wiped her hands on the skirt of her dress. "Now, I am very tired and going to bed. As I mentioned, you may share my bed. When you're ready to sleep, leave the fire burning out here. It heats our _nominal homestead_."

Sigyn watched as Astrid disappeared into the bedroom she had awoken in. The human woman didn't seem insulted at all despite repeating Sigyn's words in a more emphasized manner. If anything, Astrid seemed rather amused.

Taking the bowl in her hands, Sigyn grimaced down at it. She took part of her own dress and tried to dry it up and wipe away any dirt residue. She still wasn't overly pleased. Surely there had to be more than one bowl to use. She set off in searching the confines of the kitchen, turning over every leaf and scouring every nook and cranny. There were three other bowls of typical meal size, but they were even dirtier; having clearly been used to feed from some point, earlier in the evening by the human occupants of the home. Well, there was always the option of eating straight from the pot. So, that's just what Sigyn did, because she couldn't bring herself to eat from the same bowl that had been used in cleaning dirt from her face. She grabbed the ladle and brought a mouthful of stew close to her nose so that she might smell it first. It had a pleasing enough scent so she blew her breath on it to cool it down slightly before casually placing the ladle to her lips and devouring the contents.

It was surprisingly delicious, even though it was lacking in substance. She figured it had been a small animal or two with barely any meat on its bones. The stew was mostly typical garden vegetables to overcompensate in the bare minimum of meat. Well, if Sigyn was going to be using this place as her own home for the time being, she was sure as hell going to make sure there was better food to be consumed. Some things would definitely have to change.

After about ten minutes, the stew was all but gone. Sigyn left the ladle in the pot and stepped around the kitchen to peer at the little details here and there. She even poked her head into the children's room, where the glow from the fire afforded her enough light to make out the figures of the twosome laying side by side in their bed. However, she doubted they were asleep. They were most likely too curious about the strange woman in their home who fell from the sky and was going to be staying with them for an undefined amount of time.

She turned her attention away from them and thought about her father; wondering where in this world he was, and what he was doing that very moment. But her mind quickly wandered to Loki and what he was doing. It would be her first night since their marriage that she would be sleeping without him by her side and she felt a sharp pain in her heart. Not only was it a pang of longing, but a pang of something else. Not fear, but something similar to uncertainty; as if something had happened or was happening but there was no way of knowing just now what it was.

Wrapping her arms around her chest, Sigyn stepped slowly and quietly into Astrid's room. She felt somewhat awkward in sharing a bed with this human woman. They had only just met, but she was feeling tired. The stress of leaving Asgard and Loki behind, the anxiety over finding her father and the physical part of her journey was closing in on her mental state. She needed to rest, indeed.

Sigyn crept up to the side of the bed Astrid wasn't occupying. She could sense the human wasn't asleep either, but was decent enough to pretend she was as not to make Sigyn feel any more awkward. The Asgardian sat down and swiveled her legs up onto the mattress which was lumpy and filled with straw and something else. It was the most uncomfortable bed she had ever laid down upon and was another thing that would have to change if she was going to be staying.

Resting her head on the poor excuse of a pillow, Sigyn turned her back to Astrid and stared at the wall, unable to stop the singular tear from rolling down her cheek when she finally let it sink in how desperately she wished it was Loki lying beside her at that moment, and how much she wanted to be able to kiss him goodnight.

 

* * *

 

A loud shattering of glass upon stone echoed off the walls of the Asgardian ale house and the patrons paused only momentarily before erupting in fits of raucous laughter. It had been weeks since crown prince Loki began to frequent the establishment. At first he had been accompanied by his brother, the mighty Thor, and had been rather sad-looking and subdued, but soon his demeanor shifted into something more hostile and angry. Fueled with plenty of ale and the funds to keep it flowing, he bought rounds for everyone present and was able to shift his quiet rage into more of a frolicking good time. None of it was the Loki his family knew and loved. He had always been mischievous in his ways, but those ways were also never fueled by anger and ale. He was mean for sport, which got him into a few brawls in the ale house, but none could ever match him, and not because he was more athletic but because his skills in magic and trickery surpassed many an able-minded Asgardian, never mind a drunken one.

On this particular night, a little over a month after being forever parted from his beautiful Sigyn, Loki sat on the bar, juggling several glass cups, magically, in one hand. He was slightly off his game from the strong brew and one of the glass cups had fallen and shattered. Every voice succumbed to silence, unsure of what the mischievous prince's reaction to the broken glass would be. Fortunately, he found the hilarity in it and when he laughed it off, the others felt their unease disappear and they laughed as well. Loki had allowed the strong ale to influence him into a better mood and briefly take his mind off of life in general or at least temporarily fogging up the details of why he was so angry and depressed as of late. At the peak of his inebriation, he bought rounds of more ale for everyone in the ale house and they cheerily lauded him, raising their pints and seemingly forgetting he was a prince and not one of the everyday Asgardians who worked and lived in the seedy underbelly of the capital city.

Downing a hearty pint of ale, the remnants of the amber liquid glistening on his lips and around his mouth in the candle- and firelight of the establishment, Loki slammed his goblet down on the bar and turned to the closest bar maiden. He grabbed one of her hands and threw and arm around her waist, pulling her into a jaunty danced, matched evenly by the music being played, compliments of the two patrons occupying their lyres and another on a small drum. She blushed profusely, unable to contain her giggles over the fact that the handsome royal was twirling her around like one of those fancy ladies at court.

Just as he spun her away from him, still holding her hand, he noticed the lumbering figure of his brother Thor standing but feet away, looking not at all to be in a gaming mood.

"Well, well, well…my brother Thor, ladies and gentlemen; the beloved favorite son of Asgard, the golden warrior, the wielder of Mjolnir—"

"Loki, you are drunk."

"And you are far more perceptive than I give you credit for," the leaner brother slurred, smiling widely, despite the glee on his lips never reaching his eyes.

"It is time to return home, brother, and put an end to these public displays of intoxication."

Loki made a face of mock astonishment, placing a hand to his chest and trying to muffle a laugh. "Have I been embarrassing the family?" He gave in to a slight chuckle, and then gestured to the patrons, who had gone silent at the interaction between the royal brothers. "These are my friends. I am only having a simple row with them…with a few drinks involved."

"Every night for a month this has been going on. This is a problem now. You will come home with me and we shall discuss this there." Thor only needed to take on step forward to be close enough to take Loki by the arm, but Loki jerked back. "Loki, please. Do not make a scene."

"Make a scene?" Loki repeated, raising his voice. "I'm not the one who came in here and turned this into a scene. There was nothing but drinking, laughing and dancing before then." He narrowed his eyes and leaned back, arms outstretched at his side.

"Just leave here with me now, Loki. Please."

Loki scoffed, and then turned away. He looked at the barkeep and tapped the palm of his hand on the wooden surface of the bar. "Another round of pints for my friends, good man." He then twirled on the balls of his feet and leaned his lower back against the bar, folding his arms across his chest.

Thor stepped closer, into Loki's personal space. "I will take you by force if need be," he informed. "I would rather you came willingly with me."

"Take me by force? Ha," Loki laughed. "I'd very well like to see you try."

They both knew all eyes were on them, and that Loki was playing up the situation on purpose; like an actor playing to his audience. He took a step away from the bar and backed up slightly from Thor, putting an ample amount of space between them. With his right hand, he beckoned for Thor to make a move.

"I do not wish to tussle with you here. Let us leave here in peace, brother, and sober you up," Thor pleaded as subtly as possible, his voice stern but caring. "This is not who you are."

"And, and you know me so well, do you? Better than I know myself?" Loki narrowed his gaze again. "You know nothing about me, what I feel, what I…" he trailed, the ale-infused happiness giving way to the full force of his sadness and anger once more. "You do not know _me_ , Thor."

"Loki—"

"Enough of these social niceties," Loki snipped, conjuring a ball of energy in his hands and then looking down at it with a smile toying at his lips.

He was intrigued by this new power he had been able to develop recently. It was what he had spent his time one when not drowning his sorrows or sulking quietly around the palace. It looked like the flames he had been able to conjure for the torches he used with Sigyn in the cavern, only rounder and completely blue in color. There was not flicker of a flame, but wisps of crackling magic swirling around the translucent sphere. When Loki brought his gaze back up to Thor, seeing his older brother grasping white knuckling it out of apprehension, he snickered and, without warning, he threw the energy blasting the blonde Asgardian square in the chest plate. Thor was sent flying backwards into several tables and chairs which all but crumbled under his weight. The patrons scrambled away from the elder son of Odin and stood out of the way, preparing for a battle between the brothers to commence in a moment's notice. Loki stumbled back a little, still quite buzzed from the ale. He turned his attention to his pint waiting for him on the bar and knocked it back in two gulps.

However, while swallowing the second gulp, he was suddenly thrown off his feet as Thor had, during that time, gotten to his feet and barreled at Loki. He tackled Loki, knocking them both threw the front window of the ale house; splinters of wood and shards of glass spraying everywhere, on and around them.

Thor landed on top of Loki, knocking the air of out the younger prince, who simply reacted with a hollow laugh that was laced with sadness rather than humor. It was all a show. Thor realized that then. Loki was putting on the show to keep people at a distance so they would never know how much he was hurting inside, how angry he truly was, and how searing his heartbreak was. Thor also knew Loki would never admit to the extent of his feelings either. Loki would rather be seen as the mischief maker, the trickster; condemning himself to being further regarded as the lesser of Odin's son. All this rather than facing his pain, anger and sadness, talking about it to those who loved him and would have his ear.

Rolling off his brother, both lay on their backs, in the cobbled road as passers-by on foot and on horseback strode by, looking upon them with wonderment and curiosity; continuing on their way or talking amongst themselves in hushed voices.

"Are we done with this bedlam, Loki?"

"It would seem so," came Loki's response; his voice empty of any emotion. He was no longer laughing or smiling. Not even a scowl occupied his face. It was void of anything. He simply blinked skyward, swallowed back a lump in his throat and lifted a hand to brush glass from his hair. The rest fell when he slowly began to sit up.

Thor was on his feet first and offered Loki his hand. "Let us be on our way home, then."

Loki brought his knees up to his chest first and peered sideways up at his brother; contemplating how Thor could so easily push aside any amount of animosity he had just been shown. They had just done quite a number to the ale house and now Thor acted as if it was all water under the bridge.

When he finally took Thor's hand, Loki allowed himself to be helped up to his feet, brushing off the remaining glass shards and wooden splinters. "How do you do that?"

"How do I do what?"

"Brush away that fight as easily as I'm brushing away this debris?"

Thor shrugged. "You are my brother," he answered as if it were the simplest response in the entire universe. "I know you meant no real harm. You are in a bad place right now and are reacting as such. It is my honor as your brother to bear the brunt of these outbursts. It is what brothers do. We roughhouse; we fight and then we laugh it off later."

Loki only stared at Thor in response.

Thor didn't bother to press him for conversation. He looked back at the ale house and took a few steps forward; poking his head inside. "Our apologies for the mess, barkeep," Thor spoke loudly. "You can expect to see compensation for the damages we caused by first light tomorrow." As he turned back to look at Loki, he saw his brother running a hand through his black hair and holding his head up. "I think we may—"

Before Thor could finish his sentence, Loki disappeared without a word, having teleported away.

Energy blast aside, Thor realized in that moment that Loki's powers were definitely growing.

 

* * *

 

At that very moment, literally worlds away, Sigyn was sauntering up to the Thornley homestead, holding the reins of a horse and leading it with her. Her cloak flapped behind her in the cold wind, signaling winter in this region of Earth was forthcoming. She had her hair pulled back behind her and looked tired; dark circles under her eyes from who knows how much time spent in travel with lack of sleep.

As she neared the home, young James came bounding out and ran up to her with a big smile. "I knew it was you coming home, Sigyn!" He wrapped his arms around her hips and looked up at her; his chin resting against her abdomen as he did so.

Sigyn stopped walking as soon as he approached her. She placed a hand on top of his head and smiled down at him. "Yes, I am returned."

"Did you find your father?"

"No, not yet. I do not know just how large this world is," she informed. "It will take me some time, but not too long, I hope."

"I hope you find him."

"As do I." She pulled him off of her long enough to step beside the horse and pat a large sack she had strapped to the pack saddle. "I brought back some goods, though. Go tell your mother, will you?"

James nodded but wasn't even five feet away from Sigyn when Astrid stepped out of the home, wiping her hands on the apron she wore around her simple dress. Her daughter Mary followed suit and her eyes were large upon seeing Sigyn, the horse and the goods.

"How did you manage to purchase goods with no form of currency?" Astrid mused, folding her arms across her ample chest.

Sigyn merely smirked. "I have plenty learned talents, taught to me by husband, which assisted in getting me what I wanted."

"You didn't hurt anyone, did you?"

"None that didn't bring it upon themselves."

Astrid made a disapproving face. She gestured to Mary, "Unhook the bag from the saddle and bring it inside for Sigyn. She has had a long journey."

Mary nodded and James joined his sister to help by taking the reins to lead the horse to be led to the small stable. They used to own three other horses but had to sell them off in order to buy other necessities. Now it simply housed their singular horse and a portion had been converted into a makeshift barn where they kept their chickens and their two pigs, Bess and Tom-Tom, whom the children had named.

"Did you find any clues as to where your father might be?" Astrid asked as the children meandered away.

Sigyn shook her head. "Not one." She pressed a hand to her stomach and furrowed her brow.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Shrugging, Sigyn glanced briefly at Astrid and walked toward the house, but not before stopping to suddenly lurch forward and vomit almost the entire contents of her stomach. Astrid was at her side in a heartbeat and placed her hand on the Asgardian; making small, circular rubs.

After a few heaves and spitting of the vomit which remained on her tongue, Sigyn straightened her posture. "It has been going on for a week now. Anything I eat I cannot keep down. Most smells I encountered have offended my senses." She looked at Astrid as she was led inside the home and took a seat at the meager table. The fire from the hearth was warm and welcoming as she closed her eyes and let the heat bathe upon the skin of her arms and face.

"Have you felt sore anywhere?" Astrid inquired.

"Not particularly."

"Just the nausea?"

"Yes."

"How long ago was your last bleeding?"

Sigyn opened her eyes and found that Astrid was sitting across from her at the table. "Why?"

"Because I think I know what ails you?"

"How do you know?" Sigyn narrowed her gaze, turning her body to face the other woman, just as both Mary and James entered the house with the bag of goods Sigyn had returned with.

Astrid gestured to her children with a nod of her head. "Because I have suffered the same ailment twice before."


	15. Born of Earth

* * *

 

Winter had arrived in the northern hemisphere of Earth, layering the land in blankets of snow and horribly cold winds that chilled to the bone. This winter would be easier than the previous one, thanks to Sigyn being there and being able to help with the homestead and make sure they would have enough to eat and keep them warm until spring arrived. She had made more trips toward the cities, finding ways to acquire goods, and what those ways were she would not tell Astrid. She had made two more journeys, further each time than the last, in search of her father, and still she found no signs of him. Sigyn wasn't exactly discouraged; she knew it wouldn't be an overnight discovery, but it was annoying nonetheless. And the longer she was away from Loki, the harder it got. She hadn't expected just how painful it would feel to be away from him.

Sure, they had been kept apart before, months to years at a time, but it had been different then. They had been mere children, youths. They hadn't been man and wife, so newly married and looking forward to their future together.

The one shining light in the gloom of separation and disappointment in Sigyn's life was Astrid and her children. They had easily adopted her into their home as a part of their family in the past few months. The children had affectionately begun to refer to her as Aunt Siggy, which Sigyn had nothing to discourage. They all shared stories in their down time, with Sigyn learning of the holiday season that they were in; something called Advent, which was a time of celebrating the coming of the birth of their savior. Sigyn found it interesting, their beliefs, if not a bit trivial. Her kind had been regarded as Gods and Goddesses to the humans for a long time now, so it was curious to learn about these other human ideals and belief systems. Sigyn listened intently to the stories of Astrid told her of her god and his "begotten" son, Jesus; a man who cured the sick, turned water to wine and walked on water.

Sigyn couldn't help but smirk. Curing the sick aside, it all sounded similar to tricks Loki was capable of.

But she appreciated the compassion behind the belief in this Jesus, the love he had for all mankind and died for them all; that he believed in treating your fellow man with respect. It was an honourable type of god she admired. Something she wished her dear uncle, Odin the All-father, would aspire to.

There were other tales, other myths the humans had passed down and around for a long time. Some were the myths of the Greek gods on Mount Olympus, and their Roman counterparts. Astrid even passed along the myth of the Nordic gods, namely Odin, Thor, Sigyn's mother Freya and even Loki himself; all of whom Sigyn knew had visited Earth in the past and clearly left their mark on the humans. Several of the stories Astrid related to her were quite ridiculous; humans having exaggerated their experiences with her Asgardian family, leaving the experiences to be perpetuated into myths and legend.

Sigyn was learning as much on the human way of life as possible if she were to adapt and make her way through it during the time she spent on Earth in search of her father. She was matriculating, if you will.

On a cold winter morning, in early December, Sigyn was sitting outside on a log; what was left of a tree that had fallen several decades before and hadn't been used for firewood. She was surrounded by snow and although it was cold, it didn't bother her as strongly as it did to humanity. Her resistance to it was far greater. The daunting cold merely felt like a slight breeze to her. She was staring out at the valley below the Thornley homestead, blanketed in white. The snow that had fallen heavily the night before had covered up the pathway Sigyn had created by traveling into the nearest town with the family horse.

She had her hands resting on her stomach, feeling slight butterfly movements beneath the fabric of her clothing and her skin under that. It was a strange feeling; that there was another life inside her, growing every day. It had been a little over four months, in the human sense of time, since she had been with Loki, in all ways. The bump was noticeable now and she reveled in it. She would be a more in a four to five more months; pregnancy seeming to last as long for humans as it did for Asgardians. She would become a mother, Loki a father and she was contemplating returning home to Asgard before finding her father, if she didn't find him before she gave birth, but she knew that if she did that, she might not be allowed to leave a second time after the birth. She would have to ride it out, which pained her; not able to have Loki here with her. She quietly hoped that Heimdall could see her changes and would pass it along to Loki so that would be allowed to come to her and be with her during this time.

She was not counting on that, though. She merely hoped. The idea of it would be nice.

As her unborn child fluttered once again, her mind wandered to what she would say to her father when she saw him. She wondered if she would find him before she gave birth. If not, at least her father would meet his first and only grandchild. It would be a bittersweet parting gift; being able to know his daughter was doing well, had a family of her own but would never be able to see Sigyn or the child again. Just knowing they lived on…

"I can't believe you're not cold out here," Astrid commented from the doorway to the thatched house. She was wrapped very tightly in a wool blanket, trying hard not to expose herself to the elements.

Sigyn didn't bother turning around when she replied. "My resistance is much greater than yours. You know this."

"Yes, I do. Still amazes me though. I feel colder just watching you sit there." Astrid looked out toward the shallow valley below, visible through the trees lining the property; the nearest town about three kilometres away. "Why don't you come inside? I've got the stew ready."

Sigyn was getting pretty tired of stew, but she was not about to complain. Astrid didn't have to give her a roof over her head and food to eat. Slowly, she got to her feet, turning and glancing at Astrid with an appreciative smile in her eyes. "Sounds nice," Sigyn lied.

"If you want I can heat up some water to put into the washing tub if you'd like a bath."

"No offense but that bucket you call a tub isn't conducive to proper bathing," Sigyn smirked. "Remind me to get you real tub on my next journey."

As both women entered fully into the home, the door closing the winter air out, Astrid removed the blanket from her shoulders but kept it draped on her arms.

"You shouldn't be making any more journeys in your situation. You should wait until after the baby is born."

"I don't have the luxury of sitting idly by."

"I'm not kicking you out anytime soon. There is no rush for you to find your father, is there?"

Sigyn had grabbed the ladle in the pot hanging over the fire and chuckled slightly as she scooped some stew into a bowl. "Is that attachment I here in your voice, Astrid? Are you growing too fond of me?"

Astrid folded her arms under her bosom and shrugged. "It has been nice to have another adult around. I love my children more than my life, but it gets lonely with my husband gone. I haven't had anyone my age to talk to on a regular basis in a long while."

"I am nowhere near the same age as you, Astrid dear."

"You know what I mean."

Sitting down with her bowl of stew, Sigyn began to eat with the spoon that had been whittled from a piece of wood, most likely by Astrid's deceased husband sometime in the past. James and Mary came out from the second bedroom at the sound of Sigyn at the stew pot, signaling it was time for them to eat as well. Astrid waited until her children had scooped out their helpings before she went to feed herself. James, having taken a strong liking to Sigyn, sat in the chair closest to her. He had begun to look up to her like he would an aunt. She was stronger than his mother, sister and himself combined, and probably even his father were he alive. In that sense, she was sort of like the father figure he was lacking.

"Aunt Siggy?" he spoke, leaning his chin over his bowl and casting a side glance at her.

Sigyn looked at him from the corner of her eye while she ate. "Yes?"

"When you go on your next journey, will you take me with you?"

"James, I don't think that's a good idea," Astrid spoke up.

"But mother…"

"It's actually a very good idea," Sigyn offered her two cents. She caught Astrid's unsure and questioning eye across the table. Setting her spoon down in her bowl, she continued, "He's a growing boy without a father. He's going to need to learn about this world somehow; to venture out into it."

"I know, it's just that it's winter and he's young…"

"Would he be confined to this homestead if his father were alive?" Sigyn asked, not to condescend but to make a point.

"No, I suppose not," Astrid caved. "He would be at his father's side, learning how to grow into a man."

"I trained for years as a shield maiden. I know plenty in the ways of combat; with weapons and without. Plus, I have some tricks my husband taught me. The latter I cannot teach to your son as I do believe magic is innate in Asgardians, not humans. But I can teach your son how to defend himself with a sword, how to fight." Sigyn pushed her bowl to the side and leaned back in her chair, resting her hands in her lap. "I know you, yourself, do not know how to read. I can teach James and Mary, as well. Reading expands the mind and will give your children an upper hand in life. They will be able to do more later on in their years."

"I couldn't ask you to do all this."

"You don't need to ask. I'm offering." Sigyn turned and looked at James who had the same warm brown eyes as his mother and was smiling up at Sigyn at the prospect of all she was planning to teach him that his mother could not. She placed a hand at the back of his head and ran her fingers through some of his hair, affectionately. "I know what it is like to grow up without one's father. It is hard enough to go through childhood and into adulthood with only one parent. Fortunately for your children that they have a mother that truly gives a damn."

"I really don't know what to say." Astrid began to beam. She thanked the stars nightly for sending Sigyn falling to earth, to her and her children. "I do not know what we would've done without you, Sigyn. You have done so much to help us out already in these past four months."

Sigyn shrugged it off. "Do not think anything of it. You took me in when you didn't have to. You have given me a home and warm meals. I owe you just as much as you think you owe me."

"Can I go on a journey, too?" Mary asked, hopeful.

"You need to stay here with me, Mary," Astrid spoke, playing with the ends of her daughter's hair. "A woman's place is in the home."

Sigyn chuckled. "Such is not always the case."

 

* * *

 

Winter had seemed cold and never-ending in the eastern Highlands homestead. When the temperatures became warmer and the snow began to finally melt away, Astrid had made the trek to the nearest village along the River Dee to trade some goods; having insisted that Sigyn remain behind with the children in case the journey should bring about labour. Sigyn could not sit idly by however and passed the time assisting the children with caring for the garden; tilling the earth, sowing the seeds. The snow was gone by this point but the spring rain was abundant which meant the crops would easily grow. She didn't move as quickly as she had, but Sigyn managed to do a great deal. It helped take her mind off a great many things and it made her feel useful and needed. While she knew she would eventually move on from this place, for the time being it was home.

She had only brought the dress she had been wearing and one extra in the satchel she arrived to Earth with, in the way of clothes, and neither were suitable for her expanding stomach. Astrid had since given Sigyn one of her simple dresses she had worn while pregnant with her Mary and James. Sigyn had planned on acquiring material to have different dresses made but the finer materials were scarce where they were living. Sigyn had to make do.

On one of the rare, sunny days of spring while Astrid was still away but due to return in a day or so, Sigyn had the children tending to the vegetable garden while she knelt down in the herb garden. Her stomach was protruding considerably which made it harder to lean forward and work, especially when she was kneeling, because it meant trying to get back up again which was a chore in and of itself.

Mary had gone off into the small stable to feed the animals, leaving James alone amongst the vegetables. Being a child of no more than seven years of age, he grew bored of his own chores and came over to Sigyn; crouching down beside her and watching her work.

"Did you do stuff like this where you come from?"

"In Asgard?" Sigyn smiled with a small laugh that followed. "My family had people who did this for us."

"Because you were a princess?"

Sigyn kept smiling. "Technically, yes. My father was a prince, once. His brother is the king of all Asgard."

"Odin, right? You call him the All-father."

"It is one of his official titles." Sigyn stopped working and leaned back on her knees, placing her dirt-covered hands in her lap. "I married his son, also a prince and second in line to the throne of Asgard."

"Loki," James nodded. He had been listening diligently to her stories of the world she had come from and the people in her life there for the past eight months, gobbling it all up. "And his brother is Thor." Off Sigyn's nod, he added, "My mother told me that the stories of the Vikings from the Nordic lands are that they believe Odin is king of their gods and Thor is a god of thunder and lightning. Are they really gods?"

"Not really, no. God _like_ , maybe."

"What's the difference?"

"Gods cannot die. We Asgardians can; though, our lives are exceptionally longer than humans like you, your mother and sister. We can live for hundreds and thousands of your years. We also age differently. Our early years pass probably in about double the time it will take you to reach adulthood and then our aging slows even further till a human like you might think we've stopped altogether, hence the belief we are gods and immortal. But we do eventually grow old. Many a century from now my hair will grow white, my skin will wrinkle and I, too, will die."

James pouted. "I do not want you to die, Auntie Sigyn."

"Dear James," she smirked, touching her hand to the back of his head. "You do not need to worry. You will never see me die." _Because I will outlive you by a millennium or more_ , she thought ruefully to herself. Sigyn ran a hand through his tousled brown hair and looked skyward as she listened carefully to the birds chirping in the trees and the slight crunch of grass underneath Mary's feet as she left the stable to join her 'auntie' and brother.

"What are you talking about?" Mary wondered. Her red hair glistened in the sunlight and for a moment, as Sigyn looked at her, she felt the pang of her pending motherhood, not to mention the somersault caused by her child in the womb.

"Stories about Asgard," James spoke up. "About living forever!"

Sigyn chuckled. "Not quite forever."

Mary made a face. "I wouldn't want to live forever," she commented nonchalantly. "Life would get boring." Then more sadly, she added, "Especially this kind of life."

"What is wrong with this kind of life?"

"It's hard."

"But that's what life is, darling. If it was easy it would be the afterlife where everything is supposed to be perfect." Sigyn leaned over and reached for Mary's hand, giving it a slight squeeze. Not too hard, because her Asgardian strength could've hurt her if she squeezed her 'real' slight squeeze. "I believe I heard your mother say that life's obstacles are what make us stronger and life more interesting. When we overcome the hardships, we see wonderful things happen."

"My father said those things, as well," Mary commented, her eyes glazing with the memory of the father she'd lost; something Sigyn could more or less relate to.

"Your father was quite obviously a very smart man."

"He was the best father," the girl smiled. "He told us the best stories and took care of us. But it's been hard since he died."

"Well, I am here to help for as long as I can," Sigyn assured. "I will do what I can make sure your family is well off before I leave the three of you."

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Sigyn awoke early the next morning, before the sun rose or the cockerel crowed. She shuffled out of the small bedroom she had been sharing with Astrid for months, to throw a few logs on the fire in the hearth to warm up the bones of the homestead while the children still slept. She disappeared into the bedroom again to wash her face before deciding to go about making some sort of breakfast for her and the children. They had eggs from the chickens in a basket on a shelf and there was leftover stew from the night before still in the pot over the fire. Sigyn would figure something out to make.

While she busied herself, she completely forgot for the first time in months that this wasn't her usual life. It suddenly felt like commonplace, as if she'd been doing this all her life. She knew where everything was. Not that it was hard, though; the entire home was as big as her entire bed chamber in the estate she had grown up in. But it was simple and had everything a person needed to get by, give or take. As she stirred the contents of the pot to get the juices flowing again, she cracked the eggs onto a pan and held it over the flames on the side of the pot to cook the eggs.

That was when the first pain shot through her lower body. She winced, able to stand the normal aches and pains that might cripple a human.

When the eggs seemed cooked enough, she separated them onto three plates for James, Mary and herself. As she set the pan into a wash bucket for cleaning later, she felt another, more sharp, pain. She had to stop what she was doing to gather herself for a second before continuing on to wake the children up so that they could come eat. She had a day planned out for them of some fun and games; something they didn't get to do as often as children their ages should do.

Before she could open their bedroom door, she felt wet at the apex of her legs as if she'd just soiled herself. She howled a moment later and pushed the door open, which woke the children up.

She locked her eyes onto Mary first. "I am having the baby, Mary. I need you to help me."

Like the little trouper she was, Mary jumped out of bed and scurried over to Sigyn's side, linking arms. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need to get into bed to have the baby. You're going to help deliver it."

"I've never done this before," Mary muttered, worried.

"Neither have I."

Sigyn hadn't realized it but James had gotten up and was standing behind Sigyn and his sister. "What can I do?"

"Take a bucket and fill it with water, but be careful. Then get some cloths and bring them into your mother's room to your sister."

"Okay."

As James went about his tasks, Mary helped Sigyn hobble into bed as the pain began to steadily increase. She propped the pillows behind her back and sat up, looking at poor Mary who looked beside herself.

"What happens now?" she questioned, biting her bottom lip.

"We wait until it's time for me to push. When that happens, you'll have to carefully pull the baby out." Though she was still young, Sigyn was sure Astrid had explained some things about childbirth to Mary already. At least she hoped that had transpired. Sigyn wouldn't be much help in coaching the girl along if she was screeching in pain.

Moments later James came into the room and set the bucket of water down on the floor and the cloths beside Mary who had climbed up onto the bed. "Anything else I can do?"

Sigyn shook her head. "No. Both of you have some breakfast. I made some eggs and there's leftover stew in the pot. Make sure you're good and fed because I do not know how long this will take."

Both children nodded and left room to eat. Sigyn listened easily to the sounds of their feet pitter-pattering on the ground, and as she spoke in hushed tones to each other about Sigyn and the baby, as well as hoping their mother would return soon. Sigyn could only lay there and try and breathe to steady herself, and ease the impending birth of her son or daughter as best as she could. And while she thought about what it would be like to hold her child for the first time after it took its first breath, she began to cry a few tears, aching for Loki to be there; knowing he would make it all better.

But he wasn't there. Even with Mary and James, she was still alone in this.

 

* * *

 

By early evening, Astrid was walking up the hill toward her home; a large walking stick in her right hand and a sack of goods over her shoulder. The cool spring breeze whipped through her hair as she noticed her son coming toward her, waving frantically at her. Astrid's heart leapt into her throat, fearing the worst had happened by how frenzied her son appeared to be. Without a moment's hesitation, Astrid began to run the rest of the way, as fast her feet could take her at the odd angle the hill sloped upward.

"James, what is wrong?"

Before he responded, James smiled. "Auntie Sigyn had her baby!"

"What?"

"Mary helped her." James grabbed his mother's hand and dragged her inside as soon as they were close enough to each other.

Astrid threw the walking stick to the ground outside and once inside, she tossed the sack onto the table before heading into to her bedroom where she found Mary sidled up beside Sigyn who was coddling a newborn baby, swaddled in the same blanket James and Mary had been swaddled in when they were born.

Sigyn looked up and smiled ruefully at the other woman. "Welcome home."

"I missed it," Astrid breathed. "I am so sorry I wasn't here to help."

"It's quite alright. Both Mary and James did amazingly."

Mary slid down off the bed so that her mother could sit beside Sigyn to peer better at the baby. "Is it a boy or a girl," Astrid inquired, touching her index finger down upon the baby's balled up fist as it slept peacefully in its mother's arms.

"A boy," Sigyn announced proudly. "His name is Narfi; son of Loki, child of Asgard and born of Earth."

"Interesting name," Astrid smirked.

"It's Asgardian."

"Might I hold him? It feels like forever since I held a baby."

Sigyn nodded, passing her son over to Astrid who held him expertly. Little Narfi moved slightly as he adjusted to the new arms he was in but contented again before awaking; opening his lids to reveal lovely green eyes like that of his parents.

"Oh, he is a beautiful boy."

Sigyn couldn't bring herself to respond, instead watching her son and feeling as if her heart had been pulled out of her chest and was now at the mercy of every possible danger life could throw at it. All the emotion she had in her came washing over her like a wave and her tears began to flow like rivers. She wanted so desperately for Loki to be the one holding Narfi beside her, not Astrid. It should be the two of them, basking in the glow of new parenthood. Her sobs began to rack her body and Astrid handed the boy back, which Sigyn readily took, only to wrap her arms around both mother and son.

"I know, Sigyn. It's going to be okay," she whispered into the Asgardian woman's hair, placing a platonic kiss upon her head. "My children and I will help you care for your son, the way you have helped me, and we shall help you find your father, so you can make your amends there and find your way home to the man you love."

Nari never cried as his mother did. Even though he had the same eye color as both parents, it was his father's eyes he had which looked up at his mother.

That only made Sigyn's heart ache harder.


	16. Migratory

* * *

 

Overlooking the Strait of Dover from the grass hillside atop the white cliffs, Sigyn sat upon her horse, her infant son strapped to her chest with a piece of cloth turned into a sling. He was asleep as she watched the constant and calm ripple effect of the current on the water's surface traveling from southwest to northeast, where the Atlantic waters flowed into the North Sea. Behind her, two other horses stood; one with Astrid and James seated in front of her and the second with Mary with their goods and supplies. They followed Sigyn's gaze out at the water, not one of them ever having seen the view before. They had never even seen so much water before. The sun was shining so brightly they could see clear across to the other side and could glimpse at land; from what they had been informed by the local folk was the town of Calais, the northernmost part of the country of France.

It was almost exactly one year since Narfi had been born and was now the time Sigyn felt best to venture back out to find her father now that she knew her son was old enough to travel with her so she wouldn't have to worry about leaving him temporarily behind with Astrid. She had also grown quite attached to her new pseudo-family, and the thought of leaving them behind broke her heart. After the terrible harvest and a horrible winter at their Scottish Highlands homestead, Astrid was okay in taking her children and leaving it all behind. Part if it was also due to it being a constant reminder of her dead husband who she missed but was never coming back. Her young family needed a fresh start and better options and the only way would be through traveling the lands with Sigyn in search for Sigyn's father.

"We can find passage by boat down there," Astrid spoke, gesturing to the shoreline below the white cliffs of Dover. "It will take us across the waters to France."

Sigyn nodded. She was trying to figure out what direction they would go once their reached the foreign land. She had no problem with language as Asgardians had the gift of speaking and understanding all of Earth's languages. It was just a matter of determining where her father was; any possible sightings, if she could describe his appearance in a way the humans would be able to recall, if they knew anything to begin with.

"Let us be on with it then while daylight is still in our favor."

As they made their way down, Sigyn would casually glance back behind her to make sure the others were getting on well enough. It had been a long journey enough for them already since they had left the homestead weeks earlier, living simply on the road since then. They seemed to be doing alright; the only complaints being that of being cold as they slept, which meant getting more wood for their fires. Food was no problem. Sigyn was a good hunter and easily scrounged up deer or rabbits. Astrid and James would forage for berries or vegetables of some sort while Mary looked after Narfi and kept watch over their horses, supplies and temporary camp.

Only once did they come up against anything truly abysmal; three thieves that had stolen Astrid's horse while Mary was alone with Narfi. Sigyn had returned to camp first to find Mary rattled and gave the Asgardian her account of what had transpired. Sigyn, angered, took off in the direction the thieves went. She ran at top speed, faster than any human could muster and caught up with the ne'er do wells in no time at all. She grabbed the thief sitting atop Astrid's horse by the collar of his shirt and threw him down to the ground before plunging a dagger into his heart.

She had felt no remorse. Even though they didn't, they could've easily attacked and killed Mary and Narfi. While their crime against them was mere theft, the price was the life of one of them. She fought the other two without batting an eye, knocking the second of the three unconscious while the third begged to be spared. Sigyn took umbrage, narrowing her eyes at him. Just because she had killed one and beaten another did not mean she would kill him as well. Then again, the poor bastard had no idea of knowing that. She knelt down to his level where he lay on the ground staring up at her; hands held out in surrender, pleading. Pointing her dagger at his jugular, they both knew all she had to do was make a quick swipe across and he would be dead in under a minute as he bled out. However, she played the mercy card and stood back up, informing him that if she ever saw his or his friend's faces again, she would not hesitate to kill them, and if they so much as looked upon something that didn't belong to them with the intention of taking it, she would be there, dagger in hand.

The third thief accepted her mercy, but left his supposed friend. Clearly, thick as thieves wasn't always true.

Now, Sigyn and the others were looking ahead and were in fact thick as thieves. Over the last twenty months, they had become family and while she remained with them on Earth, Sigyn would protect them and love them like they were of her blood.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks later, the weather was even warmer and not just because they were well into the month of May, but because they had traveled south into France and were just outside Lyon, in what was the Kingdom of Arles. Sigyn had heard stories of "an ancient lord who governed some lands in the mountains." Sigyn knew not what mountains in particular or if the stories were anything but. The nearest mountain range to where they were at the moment was what she and Astrid had been informed were the Alps to the east. Not wanting to make a trip through the mountains just yet, they had decided they would continue south first.

By the time they reached a large body of water again, it was another week later and they were coastal port city of Nice. It was time for a much needed rest and with funds Sigyn had acquired along the way by means she was about to divulge, she was able to put them all up at a decent inn with a view of the Mediterranean Sea. They ate fully of fatty meats, cheeses, breads and fruits and drank delicious wines for several days. They bathed and clothed themselves in new linens. For the first time in Astrid and her children's lives, they got a glimpse into how Sigyn had spent all of hers. The luxuries were divine, but they had known nothing but a humble existence.

After a week of recuperating from almost non-stop travel, they made their way again, east toward Genoa and then north toward Milan. Where again they stopped, this time staying on for near a month before preparing for the journey over the Alps.

It became arduous for them as reached the Rheinwaldhorn Mountain and followed along the Nufenen Pass to the east, then north until they reached the Rhine, traveling along it for weeks until they reached a large lake, referred to by locals as Bodensee. While resting, they settled in the town of Bregenz on the eastern short of the lake, at the foot of Pfänder Mountain. They rented out small home and set up some roots until they figured out their next move. They didn't need money because Sigyn always seemed to come upon some.

By this point it was the end of summer; autumn was around the corner and it had been about two years that Sigyn had been on Earth. Narfi wasn't yet walking as most of their time had consisted in traveling by horseback so the boy hadn't had the chance to learn. Mary was growing more into a young lady and would achieve the age of twelve after the new year. Sigyn knew that in a few years' time the girl would reach maturity and Astrid would want her daughter to find a good husband for her daughter, so Sigyn could only hope that she would find her father by then so her surrogate family could settle down somewhere and that the traveling would not go on forever. Sigyn was giving herself a timeframe as it were. Narfi hadn't been in the picture when she'd initially made the choice to come to Earth to find her father and now that he was here, she felt that if she couldn't find her father in the next two more years, by Earth standards, she would deem her quest void and return home to Asgard so her son would know his father. She had consigned herself to accepting she would never see her father again if it didn't happen by then.

At least she could tell herself she tried.

As the weeks rolled along, the five of them grew quite comfortable in their temporary living situation. The home was a step up from the Scotland Highlands homestead Astrid and her children lived in. The children had their own beds, but still shared the same room, which was fine. Astrid got a room to herself once again and her own bed while Sigyn shared a third bedroom with her young son. There was even a separate sitting room from the "cooking room" as Astrid called it. And, as a plus, there was a private, smaller room with a bathing tub. They still had to use a privy outside. Astrid had spent most of her time making the home lovelier than it already was, picking as many wildflowers as she could while they were still in bloom, before the winter frost claimed them. As usual, Sigyn always had the funds to purchase food, clothing materials, home goods and the occasional toy for the kids. And, also as usual, she never told Astrid how she came by the funds.

Sigyn would never tell Astrid she usually scared less than chivalrous human men into handing it over on pain of death after she promptly lifted them off the ground with only one hand around their neck. Or sometimes she went the subtle route by pilfering it by ways of little magic tricks she'd learned from Loki so long ago, which came in handy when they were children stealing desserts from the palace kitchens.

Generally, they all kept to the home as the language barrier for Astrid and her children with the other natives of the area kept communication to a bare minimum, but Sigyn, being Asgardian, was able to understand and utilize verbal and non-verbal communication without any prior knowledge of the language. Despite this, the people of the town were very hospitable when the Yule holiday came, inviting Sigyn, Astrid and the children to the Yule celebrations in the center of town.

Sigyn did the speaking on her and Astrid's behalf, introducing them as sisters, as they considered each other as such anyway. Mary and James had no problem getting along with the other children as having fun was a universal language that didn't require words. The food was plenty, the ale was warm and there were a few men playing instruments and singing to provide music for the festivities. Sigyn felt light and happy, watching Narfi struggling to form his first steps and for the first time in about two years, she felt like she was at home in Asgard. A lot of the merry making was so similar to that she had grown up with.

When the children started to grow weary, Sigyn and Astrid bid their neighbors adieu and headed home, putting the children to bed. Sigyn, not requiring sleep as frequently as Astrid, sat up the entire night, heading outside to sit in the snow and watch the stars in the sky gradually fade from view as the sky went from black to dark purple to lavender to light blue as the sun rose. She thought about home, Asgard, and what Loki was doing at that moment, where he was, if he was looking into the abyss of space from one of the palace balconies from the capital city, thinking of her as well. Certain he was doing just that, even if not at every waking moment, was enough to hold her over until the day she returned to him with their son in tow. She let that idea roll around her head as she got up and headed back inside to prepare breakfast for everyone before they woke and exchanged a few gifts as the yule holiday suggested. Sigyn grabbed the items she needed from the kitchen and began to prepare, letting the smells wafting throughout the home do the job of waking everyone from their slumber.

James was the first one up, sauntering barefoot and sleepy-eyed with his brown hair disheveled. He was an adorable boy and would grow into a handsome man someday. In the meantime, his appetite was starting to grow little by little. It was no surprise to Sigyn he woke to the smell of food before the others.

"Happy Yule, Aunt Sigyn," James croaked as he approached her and hugged her waist.

Sigyn smirked and wrapped one arm around him, "Happy Yule to you, too, darling." She released him and gestured to some plates. "Will you set the table?"

James nodded and went about his task as Astrid appeared in the room next with Narfi, holding his hands as she helped him walk.

"Happy Yule," she greeted with a smile, trying to get Sigyn's attention. When the Asgardian turned, Astrid continued by looking down at the toddler. "Show mama what you just did for Aunt Astrid."

Sigyn was a bit confused but watched with precautious eyes as Astrid let go of Narfi's hands. He stood there for a moment, tilting back slightly as if about to lose his balance and fall before all at once traipsing forward toward his mother as steadily as his stubby legs would take him. Sigyn all but literally dropped what she was doing to crouch down to her son's level and catch him as he collapsed into her arm and buried his happy face into her chest.

"Oh my heavens, you walked!" Sigyn gleefully crowed, wrapping Narfi into a tight embrace. "What a marvelous boy you are!" Kissing the top of her son's head, she glanced over it to Astrid and smiled. "This is a happy Yule indeed. This is the best gift I could receive."

"What happened?" Mary's voice called out as she joined everyone else in the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Narfi took his first steps," replied her mother.

Mary pushed her red hair out of her face and beamed just as happily as her mother and Sigyn were. After all, she had been the one to help deliver the boy and looked to him like a little brother. "Very good," she cooed at the toddler.

Narfi looked between everyone fawning over him and yammered away in typical baby gibberish, still not forming words yet. When he looked up at his mother though, even though he couldn't say the words yet, Sigyn could see it in his eyes that he loved her as much as she loved him. Loki was the love of her life; always had been and always would be. But Narfi was the greatest thing to ever happen to her. She was always a girl or a woman, and would be a woman long after she was dead and gone, but she wasn't a mother until Mary placed Narfi into her arms on the day her was born.

 

* * *

 

Half a year later, they were all migratory again. Sigyn had heard some chatter about a wealthy man living in the Black Forest region who held some sort of feudal position. He went by the name of Ludwig Borson and was rumored to seem "ageless". Sigyn knew in her heart it must be her father. Who else could it be? She learned this information around Narfi's second birthday, according to earth years, after hiring a young man to confirm some of these rumors. It was decided then that she and the others would move on from Bregenz.

During their travels, Sigyn witnessed something that would place a kernel of doubt about humankind in her mind and shape how she would view them in the future.

It was mid-June when their travels restarted and by the end of the month they were only a day or two from Black Forest. They stopped in some town Sigyn never bothered to get the name off to restock on some food supplies when they noticed a commotion in the town square. Leaving Narfi with Mary while Astrid and James took the money Sigyn had given her to buy what they needed, Sigyn wandered off out of curiosity to see what was going on. She noticed the large scaffold with what seemed to be every townsperson surrounding it; cheering and caterwauling. Pushing easily through the crowd to get close to the front, she finally saw the large man with the black material over his face, holding an axe. There was what looked to be some sort of priest man rambling in Latin, a prayer it seemed. Then, two guards ascended the scaffold with an old man whose hands were bound in chains in front of him. But the man wasn't the only one like that. There appeared to be several other men bound the same way, also guarded, as if awaiting their turn to be led up the wooden stairs.

"What is happening?" Sigyn asked the dirty-faced townswoman beside her in perfect German.

"Beheadings."

"What? Why? What have those men done to deserve such punishment?" How gruesome, Sigyn thought.

The German woman looked at Sigyn as if she were a leper. "Who cares?" then returned to catcalling like everyone else.

"You're cheering on the deaths of men? Unless they themselves have murdered or committed some other heinous crime, I doubt beheading is a just punishment."

The guards brought the old man up to a block of wood beside the executioner and forced to his knees. The poor man was blubbering with tears streaking his face and Sigyn felt a deep sympathy for him. She knew this wasn't right. His face was just as dirty as the woman beside Sigyn, his white hair long and stringy and probably hadn't been washed in weeks. As he was bent over the wood block so that his neck stuck out far enough, his hair fell forward as he looked down at the floor of the wooden platform.

"For the crime of thievery, the following prisoners have been sentenced to death by beheading!" called out some sort of magistrate from a balcony of one of the nearby buildings. "Let this serve as warning to the rest of you not to take that which does not belong to you!"

Sigyn scoffed. "They get death just because they stole something? This is wrong."

"Shut up, lady," a man beside her bit out.

Sigyn glanced at him and reached her hand to the back of his neck and gave an abrupt pinch, causing him to black out and slump unconscious to the ground. She would not be told to be silent by some urchin excited by the unjust deaths of his fellow man.

As the executioner brought the axe high over the head of the old man, Astrid seemed to have found her way through the crowd to find Sigyn. The blade came down with a swift chopping sound, followed by the head of the old man hitting the platform. Astrid closed her eyes tight in reaction, but it had been too late. She had already seen more than she wanted. Sigyn, however, had not removed her eyes for one second. If anything, she felt she had to be the one person in the crowd who was watching whose heart went out to the old thief.

"I got everything we need," Astrid eventually spoke. She tried to avoid looked toward the scaffold as the head was lifted up and the crowd cheered.

"This is barbaric," Sigyn seethed through her teeth.

"Unfortunately it is the way of the world."

"This world needs to change."

Stone-faced, Sigyn watched at the next prisoner was brought up and couldn't even have the dignity of a clean wood block to lean on. He had to rest forward on the same wood block covered in the previous man's blood. Having witnessed what happened to the old man and to know the same was about to be done to him, Sigyn wasn't surprised to see the wet stain of urine on the front of his trousers. He had pissed himself in fear. When the same axe came down, the prisoner wasn't given the same quick death the old man had received. The executioner had missed and lodged the axe in the back of the man's head. The second blow finally did the job. Blood was everywhere and the crowd was still cheering as if this were some sort of sporting festival.

The cries of the third and final prisoner seemed to ring out over the cheering. He had to be no older than twenty; a young thing who still had his whole life ahead of him to lead. He was red-faced and crying out for mercy, pleading his apologies for stealing.

From the distance away Sigyn was standing, she could see he had brown hair and light eyes, perhaps green like hers. And she was fed up with this bloody charade. She wasn't about to let that poor boy die so early and brutally in his life. Even though she hadn't used any magic since leaving Asgard, she still remembered everything Loki had taught her.

Focusing on the executioner, she loosened her right hand which she had balled into a tight fist in anger. As the boy was forced to kneel at the block, Sigyn moved her fingers and suddenly the executioner couldn't lift the axe. It looked like it had suddenly got too heavy for him or as if it were stuck.

Sigyn smirked.

No axe. No beheading.

Next, she focused on the chains around the boy's hands. They popped off and fell to the ground.

Turning to Astrid, she muttered, "Hurry up. Go back to the children and horses and leave this town. I will meet up with you."

"Meet up where?"

"Just go." Sigyn gave Astrid a light shove to show she meant business.

Astrid didn't think twice. She nodded and turned, pushing back out of the crowd and to where the children were with the horses and supplies. Sigyn didn't watch so she didn't see Astrid place Narfi up into the same saddle with Mary, or help James up onto Sigyn's horse before climbing up onto hers. Sigyn didn't see the four of them galloping off. Her eyes were glued to the confusion on the scaffold over why the executioner couldn't lift his axe or why the boy was no longer bound.

When she couldn't hear the hooves of horses as clearly anymore, Sigyn knew Astrid and the children were far enough away. She lifted her arms up at her sides and shoved the people nearest her away and walked forward, creating a sort of barrier around her that seemed to repel anyone as if they'd hit a wall and recoiled. She walked straight up to the scaffold with all eyes beginning to focus on her. Paying no mind to the blood, she reached forward with her right hand and gestured to the boy.

"Come. You aren't dying today, boy."

"Stop her!" called the magistrate from his lofty perch.

Tilting her head to one side, without even bothering to look up at the magistrate, Sigyn raised her left hand and yanked it forward as if pulling a roped. The magistrate made a choking sound and clamored at his throat, trying to swat away an invisible hand that seemed to be choking him.

"Decapitation is by no means a just punishment for theft," she called out, making sure all heard her. "The real criminals here are the ones passing sentence. And they shall get their comeuppance."

With another "tug" of her hand, the magistrate appeared to be pulled closer to the edge of the balcony. Sigyn used her right hand to allow the executioner to finally lift the axe, but forced his movements so that he turned around and aimed it upward toward the magistrate.

"Boy, come here," she called once again. With all eyes off him, he took his chance to crawl over to the edge of the platform where she was and slide down to the ground beside her.

"Thank you, milady."

"Thank me later. We need to get out of here first."

"How?"

"Distraction."

With that, Sigyn forced the executioner to throw the axe at the magistrate. The moment she knew it made contact, the crowed collectively cried out in surprise. Using the art of trickery and illusion, Sigyn caused the dirt under everyone's feet to rise and swirl around in a sort of thick, dust cloud. She pushed the boy under the scaffold's platform and grabbed his hand, running hunched over to the other side. The hood on her cloak fell back off her head in the process and her dark hair began to flap around her face; all the while the townspeople were temporarily blinded by the dirt cloud.

Sigyn spotted a horse tied to a post and hopped up, taking the boy's hand and effortlessly pulling him up behind her before they took off on horseback, going in the opposite direction Astrid and the children had gone. Because of this stunt she pulled, she didn't want to risk townspeople following in the same direction. If there were stragglers, she wanted to lead them away. The boy held tightly to Sigyn's face; quite obviously tense from everything that had just happened. He tried to make conversation while they hurtled through a nearby wooded area south of the town, but Sigyn was too focused on getting away and finding her way back north toward the direction of the Black Forest.

 

* * *

 

After several hours had passed, Sigyn had slowed the horse down to a steady trot. Her mind was distracted with catching up to Astrid and the kids that she had honestly forgotten about the boy sitting behind her for a time until he spoke up.

"Milady, where are we headed?"

"To find my sister and children," she answered simply, after a second of remembering he was there.

"Did you lose them?"

"No, I sent them away from that town before I saved you from death." After a moment, Sigyn smirked to herself. "You can thank me now."

"Oh, of course. Thank you, but…how? How did you do that?"

"Sleight of hand."

"Oh," he replied, still unsure about everything.

"Tell me about yourself, boy. What is your name, how old are you, what it was you stole?"

"My name is Wilhelm Bauer. I will be twenty-one in September. It was just my mother and me, she was all I had left in this world, but she died of the sweating sickness during the winter months and I couldn't find any apprenticeships or work. I came to that town three months ago, hungry and looking for work but could find none. I was desperate, so I took some apples from cart. I got caught and they through me in a prison cell," The boy, Wilhelm, explained. He let out a sigh that resonated with exhaustion, relief and amusement. "At least they fed me in there. But then the guards told me the magistrate said I was to die, and that night I cried harder than when I lost my mother. I had promised her I would have a family of my own someday and if I had a daughter, would name her for my mother, so when I was sentenced to death, I thought I was letting my mother down."

"You weren't," Sigyn assured. "I meant what I said in town. Your punishments were not just. I wish I had acted soon enough to save those other two men. The time you spent in that cell should've been punishment enough."

"You are a very kind soul, milady."

Sigyn chuckled. "Kind souls don't force executioners to throw sharp, bloody axes at their magistrate."

Wilhelm shrugged. "I'm not complaining."

"My name is Sigyn, by the way," she finally introduced herself. "When we catch up to my sister, her children and my son, you will continue with us. I'll see that you stay fed, clothed and warm."

"Thank you, milady. I wish there were some way I could repay you for your kindness."

"Well, if you want, if you ever have more than one daughter, you can name the second one after me," she teased.

"Consider it done."

 

* * *

 

It wasn't until the next morning that Sigyn finally caught up to Astrid. They had set up camp along an embankment to the Rhine River and were repacking everything up when Sigyn and Wilhelm approached. Sigyn slid down from the horse and ran up to Narfi who toddled quickly over to her, both meeting in a loving embrace. Lifting her son up onto her hip, she hugged Astrid next, making sure everything and everyone was alright.

She introduced them all to Wilhelm next; that he would be their new traveling companion and would stay with them when they reached her father. Sigyn could tell Astrid recognized the boy from being one of the prisoners, but she never asked how exactly he came to be freed, and Sigyn never said how either.

A part of Astrid wasn't sure she wanted to know.

 


	17. A Child Needs Its Father

* * *

 

In the heat of early July, Sigyn and the others had reached the Northern edge of the Black Forest with nothing to show for all their travels except physical exhaustion. Well, for the human travelers, anyway. Sigyn had reached the feudal homestead in Baden-Baden she had suspected to be the dwelling of her father and was going to seek audience with the estate holder when she saw him from a distance and felt her heart sink as she realized he was not her father. The man she saw was fair-haired and dark-eyed where her father had darker hair and light eyes, like Sigyn. Also, the man was considerably short and stocky; nowhere near the same girth as an Asgardian man. That evening, Sigyn and her "band of merry men" had set up camp but Sigyn spent most of the night away from the others. All she could think of was that she had taken them all on some sort of wild goose chase, looking for her father; uprooting Astrid and her children, providing no constant home for them all. She had long since taken it upon herself to be the breadwinner, as it were; the "father" figure, despite her fairer sex. It was up to her to support and provide for the others. They looked to her for her strength, both physical and of mind. If she couldn't care for them, who would? She cared too much for these feeble mortals to not do everything she could to keep them safe, fed, warm and happy.

And she felt like she was lacking; like she was doing something wrong.

Was she missing something? Did she overlook something important during this journey; some hint or clue that could've led her to her father sooner instead of all this wayward wandering? Were her hopes of finding him mere delusions? Was something higher than her preventing her from reaching her goal? Could Odin, the All-father, be behind this? Was this her punishment for leaving: to never find her father, since Odin had told her she was to never see him again? Was this all for naught?

Feeling disenchanted and forlorn, Sigyn sat upon a large boulder, resting her hands on the rugged coolness of the stone as she stared blankly out at the darkness of the forest which was highlighted by the slight glow of the waning moon far overhead.

Sometime later, while deep in her daydream, she heard light footsteps coming up behind her and knew them almost immediately to belong to Astrid.

"You doubt yourself, don't you?" the mortal woman asked, rhetorically.

Sigyn cast her green eyes down from the conifers to the space of soil between the boulder and where Astrid had stopped walking. "I wouldn't say that."

"No, of course you won't admit it. Far too proud."

Sigyn could hear the smirk in Astrid's voice. "You say that as if you know me so well."

"Oh, I think I do." Astrid stepped closer to the boulder and stretched her right hand out to touch the tip of Sigyn's shoe. "I know the information for our most recent jaunt left a sour taste in your mouth but you mustn't despair. It's only a matter of time before one of those tip-offs rings true."

"Maybe it's just as well. Maybe this is the universe's way of telling me I'm not meant to find my father; that I need to accept he will no longer be a part of my life." Sigyn looked down at her hands. "Narfi needs his, though. He grows bigger and stronger every day and soon he will speak sentences and form a consciousness. He'll want to know who his father is. Loki needs to know his son as well."

"Are you planning to leave us?"

Sigyn caught the hint of sadness in Astrid's voice and turned to look at her friend. "You knew it was inevitable. I came to your world for the sole purpose of finding my father and seeing with my own eyes that he is well; to perhaps give me some peace of mind while letting him know how I have grown and found happiness with Loki. And I miss my husband. I would think you would understand that."

Astrid nodded. "I do. Though, it doesn't mean I won't miss you. You have become my greatest friend, a sister. I can say, without a doubt, that you and your son have become a big part of my life and it's hard to imagine you won't always be in it. I think we'll feel the same sting of loss for you and Narfi that I felt and still feel for my husband."

The right corner of her mouth twitching upward into a half smile, Sigyn gracefully slid down the side of the bolder and landed to her feet on the ground below without a sound. She took a few steps toward Astrid and brought the other woman into a hug. "You and your children will always be a big part of my life, as well," she replied. "In a thousand years from now, when you are dead and gone, I will still miss and think of you often."

"Well, that's depressing," Astrid commented with a laugh, wiping an errant tear from her eye. "I think I'm jealous of the years you get to live and all the things you will get to see and experience, let alone have seen and experienced already."

"I wish I could turn you and your children into Asgardians somehow so that it would be a very, very long time before we said any goodbyes. I think you would love Asgard."

"I don't doubt I would."

Sigyn let her hands drop, giving Astrid's hand a firm squeeze. "Come, let us return to our children and take rest. There is another day ahead of us and maybe I will be fortunate in my searching after all in the near future."

"That's the spirit," Astrid smiled.

The two friends, linked arms and walked back toward the flickering light the flames of their campfire created.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn and the others had eventually reached one of the towns of the Black Forest called Nagold. It had not been their destination but merely a stop along the way. The town was encircled with a 5.5-metre-high wall, complete with moat and gate towers and the day they arrived, the place was bustling in the town center with its markets. Astrid was riding with her son James on one horse while Sigyn and Narfi were on another. The third horse, which Mary and her brother had been occupying, now only carried her while Wilhelm led the horse by its reins.

This town seemed no different than the rest they had been through. Life for its citizens was going on as usual and they thought nothing of the new faces drifting through. New faces always came and went in any town. There was a tavern with an inn several yards from the town center where Sigyn suggested they take shelter in for a few days so they might all have proper beds and baths. She gave Astrid more than enough coin to go to the tavern an inquire about renting out a few available rooms while Sigyn had Wilhelm tie the horses to a post and she brought the children together and collected their belongings to bring with them.

She was rather occupied by her immediate surroundings that she had been paying attention to anyone beyond her group of people, especially not that of the nobles making their way through town in a sort of parade of grandeur as they rode along on their majestic steeds, tossing alms to the poor. Apparently the day Sigyn and the others had arrived on was no mere market day, but some sort of local festival and the nobles passing through, procession-wise, were the guests of honor to whatever festivities were due to take place.

Astrid had returned with three keys for three rooms. She had learned a thing or two from Sigyn in the time they had known each other and figured out a way to rent the rooms from the innkeeper, despite the fact that the inn was apparently full up. A few drunkards were tossed out to make way for Sigyn and her entourage who were offering up more coin than the current occupants were willing or capable of paying. It was good to know where the innkeeper's loyalties lied up front. Gold made you his friend and the more you had, the better you would be treated.

Astrid took a room with her children, Sigyn with her son and Wilhelm was given his own, which he was much obliged and grateful for. His constant need to thank Sigyn for her generosity was beginning to grate on her nerves, though, and she was at the ready to scold him over it. After washing up and then having something to eat downstairs in the tavern, the group made their way back out toward the markets to take it all in.

There were so many lovely things to marvel at. Fresh fruits and vegetables, roasted meats on sticks, hand-carved and painted wooden toys for children, flower crowns, ribbons, charcoal drawings by local artisans, beadwork; and those were just the stalls set up to tantalize people into spending their hard-earned money. Fire eaters and jugglers, musicians and puppet shows lined the streets, as well, to entertain, and if people felt philanthropic enough, they could offer up some coin so the entertainers could make some money as well.

Sigyn was crouched down on bended knee between James and Mary, while she held Narfi's hands as he stood in front of her as they all watched a juggling double act taking place. Sigyn was smiling, pointing out the amusement before their eyes; Astrid, too, was transfixed, as she rested her hands on the shoulders of her own son. Wilhelm was also transfixed, but his attention wasn't on the jugglers, but on Mary; something he tried earnestly to be subtle about. Occasionally, Sigyn caught sight of his gaze, but only smiled. Mary was still much too young, but Wilhelm was a nice young man and, in a few years, if he was still by their side and Mary returned his attention, who was Sigyn to say anything against the possible match? She was the last person who would deny two people who possibly loved each other the chance of being together. She knew firsthand how that felt.

What Sigyn was not privy to noticing, however, was one of the nobles riding by, who had also stopped to take in the juggling act. His attention diverted from the jugglers momentarily as he absentmindedly scanned the crowd and then found himself taking a second look at someone in particular.

"Milord, you look as if you have seen a ghost," remarked the squire who sat on his own, lesser horse beside the nobleman.

"I…that woman crouched down there. She looks familiar to me, like someone I used to love," he replied. "But it could not be possible."

"An old flame, milord?" questioned the squire with an impish grin.

The nobleman cast his eyes to his servant and flashed a withering eye at him. "Not quite. She reminds me of my daughter."

"You had a daughter?"

"Very long ago. She was but a child then, and she lived very far away from here," he spoke, his eyes distant. "That woman could not be her. My daughter would not be here, of all places, surrounded by peasants and dressed as such."

"Should you like me to make an inquiry, milord, and find out who she is?"

The nobleman threw up his hand at first to dismiss the suggestion, but then hesitated. He considered for a spell and then turned to look at his squire once more. "I take my leave of these festivities. There is no need to follow behind me just yet. Throw the people some coin on my behalf and then see to that woman."

"Milord?" He was unsure of his master's intentions.

"Invite her to my estate. I should like to speak to her myself about her perplexing familiarity."

As the nobleman turned his horse away from the crowd and began to trot off, the squire nodded and obliged his master with carrying out the task at hand. When the nobleman was out of sight, the squire turned his attention to the woman who was now standing up with the young child in her arms as she and her compatriots walked off in search of new visual delights the festival had to offer. The squire followed after them, keeping a keen distance as not to alarm them.

For near an hour the squire kept tabs on this woman whose appearance had mystified his master. He was not sure how long he was supposed to keep his master waiting, so he chose to end the charade of tailing the woman and finally make an approach.

Sigyn was handing over some coin the a merchant selling some of those flower crowns and placing one upon Mary's head as the squire and his horse trotted casually over.

"Now you look like a woodland princess," Sigyn smiled as the squire came into her peripheral vision. She turned her head and looked up at him with a quizzical eye. "Might I help you, young squire?"

"Yes, actually. My master, Herr Ludwig von Himmel, has extended to you an invite to his estate this very evening."

"To me?" she questioned skeptically. "For what reason?" She was actually rather amused.

"He has been intrigued by you and, it is my understanding, may have some questions for you."

"Questions," Sigyn repeated. She looked at Astrid, who seemed just as skeptical. Sigyn, however, was growing less so. She looked down at her clothing and then back up at the squire. "I regret I am not properly dressed for giving audience to a man of your master's undoubted stature."

"You speak well enough," said the squire. "I am sure that will suffice for now."

Sigyn pursed her lips together in thought and arched an eyebrow. "Well, then, I wouldn't want to keep your master waiting, I suppose." She turned to Astrid, who was holding Narfi. "Look after my son for me? I shouldn't be long." Conversing with some high and mighty mortal nobleman wasn't something she was too concerned with and if there were to be some deviant ulterior motive that would somehow entrap her, she knew she could easily take on whatever was thrown her way.

Astrid nodded and held Narfi more firmly in her arms, regarding the boy as if her own. Sigyn leaned in and kissed her son on the forehead and touched his shoulder gently, giving him a smile, before bidding them temporary adieu. She gestured for the squire to follow her to the tavern where she could retrieve her horse to ride up to the Herr Ludwig von Himmel's estate.

Once mounted and riding alongside the squire, away from the market and away from the town in general, Sigyn turned to the young man. "What kind of man is your master?"

"He is a kind master and treats his servants well."

"That is good to hear."

"He is on the quiet side of things. He doesn't often matriculate with others too often; preferring the company of his books and maps."

"Does he?"

"Yes. He spends many nights walking the grounds of his estate, staring up at the stars. He doesn't say much of his younger years or how he came to these parts but he has a sadness to him; I think something terrible happened."

"So, he is a recluse?"

The squire nodded.

"Has he a wife or children."

"Neither."

"Sounds like he leads a rather lonely life."

"My lord seems to favor his solitude, though."

"I can understand how that might sound appealing, if that is the lifestyle he has chosen for himself. Though, from the sounds of it, is would seem it is the life that was instead thrown upon him and he is making due with."

"Quite possibly," the squire agreed. "I try not to speculate. It is not for me to pry."

"And a good servant, such as you, wouldn't."

The remainder of the ride took them to the opposite side of the town, from whence Sigyn and the others had initially arrived from; through a thickly wooded area, along an overgrown road that looked as if it had been rarely traveled down in recent years. The road began to incline, leading up a great hill that undoubtedly maintained a fantastic view of the town below. The road eventually opened up considerably as they reached the outer walls to what was very clearly a small castle of sorts. The gates were pulled up and Sigyn, along with the squire, were admitted entrance to the main grounds. Other servants approached them and assisted them off their horses and then led the horses away. Sigyn found herself looking upward at the rather impressive structure. She had seen far better, however, and was not readily swayed by this particular castle's finery. Truth be told, it looked like it could use a bit of tender loving care.

"This way," the squire spoke, gesturing for Sigyn to follow him inside the castle.

She walked behind him into a grand entrance hall and they turned a corner slightly where they were brought before two large wooden doors.

"Wait here."

Sigyn did as directed, clasping her hands together and waiting patiently as the squire knocked twice and then slipped inside. With her keen hearing, she could hear the muffled voice of the squire as he approached and spoke with some man; presumably the nobleman, Herr Ludwig von Himmel. She found herself admiring the large tapestries that hung on the stone walls while also thinking on how the name "von Himmel" translated from German to English as "from heaven." The first man in the nobleman's family to choose such a name for him and his subsequent descendants certainly had very lofty notions of his self-worth.

Moments later, the large wooden doors were pulled wide open, groaning as if a chore or hadn't been oiled in a very long time. Sigyn turned and peered inside the long reception room she found on the other side. Given the state of the road leading up to the castle and its outer grounds, she was half expecting the reception room to be dark and dank but was pleasantly surprised to find it rather bright and airy. Tall windows lined the walls to her right and straight ahead. There were more tapestries as well as thick curtains pulled back with golden tassels. Golden sconces adorned the walls with candles that were yet to be lit because it was still early enough in the evening that the natural sunlight from outside was plenty enough. Above hung three large, iron chandeliers in a row; following the length of the room, with candles that were also yet to be lit. On either side of the doors stood two servants standing stalwart and silent and at the opposite end stood the squire who was looking back at Sigyn while the nobleman kept his back to her.

This piqued her interest and insulted her a little. This nobleman had requested her presence and couldn't be bothered to look upon her and greet her upon her entrance? That was just poor manners.

"Please come forward," she squire spoke, beckoning to her as he stepped away from his master and then moved off to the side. She walked down the center of the room with her head held high. She was, after all, a princess of Asgard, even though these mortal men were unaware of it. When she was halfway inside the room, the squire held up his hand for her to stop. "Right there is fine."

Sigyn raised an eyebrow at him and narrowed her gaze in slight indignation. "I have been asked here by you, sir, and you do not honor me with your full attention? My attire may be at the moment somewhat drab, but I assure you I am a lady and would remind you that it is quite rude to not receive me as such."

"A lady would never address her better in such a tone or manner," the nobleman spoke in an even tone, with a hint of equal parts exasperation and amusement. His head was tilted downward, as if he was fiddling with something in his hands. His voice seemed quite familiar to her, as if from a dream she once had. "I always wondered what you would look like when you reached adulthood, and now I know. I just wonder why I now do."

Herr Ludwig von Himmel turned around slowly, his eyes cast downward at first but then peering up at her, causing Sigyn to take a step back and her heart to leap into her throat. Her lips parted, trying to find words to say but nothing came out as emotion knitted her brow together.

His look softened and he smiled brightly, holding his arms out wide to her, "My daughter."

Sigyn's chin quivered and she suddenly felt like a little girl again. Her heart nearly burst with relief as tears of joy rolled free from her eyes. "Father." As the tears stung at her corneas, her own smile brought her face alive.

All at once, they bought moved to approach each other and embrace without a second thought; at first tightly as if afraid to let go, and then softly and more relaxed with the realization that the other was real and not a figment of the imagination.

"You call yourself Ludwig von Himmel here?" she asked as she pulled back from him, chuckling through the tears.

"I have to fit in somehow." He looked over at his squire. "You may leave us. Take the other two as well," he added, referencing the men at the door.

"Yes, milord."

As the squire retreated from the reception room, Sigyn hugged her father again just to be one hundred percent certain she wasn't dreaming. When the doors shut, leaving them alone, he brought his hands up to her face and held her back from him to give her a proper look.

"My daughter has grown into a beautiful woman."

"I have searched for you for two years. I almost recently gave up hope I would find you."

Ve 'Lodur' Borson, or Herr Ludwig von Himmel as he was presently known as, frowned deeply as concern spread across his aged face. He was not quite as young as Sigyn had remembered him to be. "But why have you come looking for me, Sigyn? I am an enemy to the crown of Asgard. I knowingly went against my brother, the All-father and he banished me to this world with strict orders against any Asgardian having contact with me."

"Odin has no right to keep me from seeing my own father when he allows criminals in his prison to receive visits from their families. It is hypocritical and he knows it."

"It is a punishable offense, my child. Are you aware of what it means to interact with a known traitor against the All-father's wishes?"

Sigyn rolled her eyes. "I told Heimdall, upon my leaving, that I would be prepared to receive whatever punishment was just when I return to Asgard," she replied. She took a step back and turned away from her father to further take in the interior of the reception room of this castle he had made his home amongst the mortals. "I came here to show you I was doing well, because the way we parted had been unfair and I did not get to say goodbye to you properly. You never got the chance to see me grow up. You were unable to be there for me and I also needed to see for myself that you were well with my own eyes. Heimdall may see all but he can easily lie to appease me on Odin's behalf."

"Sigyn…"

"I was married before I left."

Lodur was momentarily sidetracked from what he was trying to say to his daughter. "You were married? To whom?"

Sigyn smirked coyly. "My dear cousin, your nephew." She shrugged. "Loki and I fell in love a long time ago and we were denied Odin's blessing to marry, but Loki found many a loophole for us. First cousins may marry according to Asgardian law so long as an official figurehead of the realm will marry us. Loki, being a prince of Asgard was within his law-abiding right to do it himself." Sigyn beamed at the memory. "It was a beautiful, if very private, ceremony."

"Oh, my darling girl, how your heart will break."

She looked back at her father with a perplexed expression. "Why would my heart break?"

"For the loss you are about to feel."

Her smile and confusion slowly faded as concern took up residence on her face. "What are getting at? What are you trying to say to me? Do you have some sort of knowledge about Loki? Is he alright?"

Lodur gestured to a set of chairs; one of which he probably occupied when he rarely received an audience with townspeople seeking assistance or some visiting nobles. "Please sit."

Hesitating, Sigyn looked at the extra chair and then sat in it; resting one hand in her lap while the other gripped the arm rest as she looked at her father. "Tell me what you know."

Reaching forward, Lodur covered his hands over hers on the arm rest and looked her in the eye. "Well, first I must say there is good news and there is bad news."

"Tell me the good news first."

Lodur nodded in acquiescence. "Loki is not your cousin; that is to say, not by blood."

"What? I don't understand."

"During the war with the Frost Giants, Odin found an infant, seemingly abandoned amongst the ruins. I fought alongside both my brothers that day and saw the child with my own eyes. It changed its own appearance, probably without knowing it was doing so. It looked up at Odin with love and reflected what it saw. From that day forward the child would be Asgardian in all manner and appearance. Odin and Frigga adopted him, but it was kept secret. Odin felt that one day he could use the child to bring about peace between Asgard and Jotunheim by raising the child as not only an Asgardian, but an Asgardian prince."

"Are you saying…"

"Yes. Loki was that Jotun child. What's more is his biological father is Laufey, the King of Jotunheim. Either way, Loki is a prince. Your marriage to him is perfectly binding and there was never a reason for Odin to have not given his blessing, other than he was trying to keep the lie alive about who Loki was, for either Loki's sake, his own, or possibly the safety of the realm if the Jotuns learned of what happened and took unkindly to their own being raised as the enemy. I cannot begin to know my brother's motives. That was one of many reasons why I saw fit to go against him and why I now find myself here."

Sigyn braced the other arm rest with her other hand and looked at the stone floor under her feet, trying to take all this new information in. "Loki is not actually my cousin." Her shock gave way to relief. "But he is still very much my husband." She lifted her head and cast her eyes back toward her father. "Well, that is very good news indeed."

"That is the only good news I have for you."

"Right," she nodded. "What is this bad news that darkens your face?"

"I am an admitted traitor to the crown, Sigyn, and thus an enemy of the realm, banished here to Midgard for as long as my life lasts. Asgardian law prohibits anyone from fraternizing with a banished traitor. I am not your garden variety prisoner in one of Odin's prison cells, my darling girl. I am on a different level than those souls and thereby the rules are different."

Sigyn's blood began to curdle in her veins and her face began to flush as her nerves danced. "What will be done to me when I return?" She hadn't thought anything truly horrible would come of her disobedience. She was a princess and she had only gone to find her father and speak to him, not to plot a coup. She had expected more or less a slap on the wrist.

"You cannot return."

Sigyn laughed. She clearly misheard him. "No, that's not right."

"The punishment for fraternizing with a banished traitor is to share in the same punishment," Lodur explained. "You will not be allowed to return. You are as I am now. You will live out your life on this rock and no one you know and love from Asgard will be allowed to ever see you again, either, or they will also face banishment."

"No." Still, denial.

"I am so sorry, Sigyn. I speak the truth to you now." He reached his hand up and cupped her face. "At least we have each other and you will not be alone as I have these last two hundred or so years. Though, for your sake, I wish you had never sought me out."

"No," she repeated, this time more forcefully and bursting with anger. She jerked her face away and jumped to her feet; the vigor of the gesture knocking her chair back. There was a ripple in the air that seemed to emanate away from her like that of a stone being tossed into some water. "I am not the only one here that will be denied seeing Loki again, as he is the only one I care to see ever again."

"What do you mean?"

"I was with child when I arrived to this forsaken world," Sigyn seethed furiously. "I didn't learn of it until after I was here."

"The young boy child in your arms at the market in town," Lodur spoke with realization.

"Narfi, son of Loki." She began to walk around feverishly, shaking her hands; quite flustered by her new predicament. "Odin cannot allow this. Adopted or not, Loki is his son and would not deny Loki the chance of knowing his son, of keeping them from each other. Banish me all he wants, but allow his grandson, blood or not, to be brought back to Asgard. Narfi is Loki's firstborn. He doesn't need me. A boy needs his father, though."

"A child doesn't always need its father. You turned out well enough without me."

Sigyn scoffed. "Mother was a joke. She remarried and sent me away to be trained as a Shield Maiden for years. We could never see eye to eye. I was a constant reminder of you, apparently. She could never bring herself to love me as much as she goads over my beloved half-sisters."

"She had more children?" It was obvious a part of him still loved Freya very much.

"Hnoss and Gersemi," she replied dismissively. She suddenly dropped to her knees as she ceased her pacing. Tears began to fall from Sigyn's eyes as she growled in anger and fear. "No, no, no, no, no…"

"Sigyn," Lodur broached carefully.

She balled up her fists and slammed them to the cold, stone floor and the room trembled; cracks appearing up the walls and fracturing the glass in the windows. "Heimdall!" she shouted. "Open the Bifrost!"

Silence bathed over them.

"Heimdall! I know you hear me and I know you see me!" Her shoulders slouched and her voice faltered. "Do not do this. I know you know of my son. Please," she pleaded. "Don't do it for me. Do it for Loki. He's done nothing wrong. Do not deny him his son."

More silence.

Lodur removed himself from his chair and knelt down in front of Sigyn and without warrant he embraced her fully in his arms, just as he used to console her as a child. Letting her rage momentarily escape her, she slumped against him and allowed his firm arms to hold her; reveling in being held by someone stronger than she was, physically and, currently, emotionally.

"You will bring your son here and you shall both live here with me in comfort. We will be a family again," Lodur whispered in her ear.

Sigyn lifted her head and her arms as she returned the embrace and rested her forehead down on his shoulder. "I have made friends who have been good to me. I wish them to stay here, as well."

"Whatever you wish, my child."

Releasing a heavy sigh from her lips, Sigyn allowed herself the small comfort of crying in her father's arms while one thought plagued her mind and broke her heart.

She would always have her son, but she would never again have Loki.


	18. Till We Meet Again

* * *

 

It had only been ten years since Sigyn found her father but she felt as if an eon had passed. Much like her father, she rarely ventured away from the castle, but her reasons were entirely different. For Sigyn, she couldn't find joy in the pretense of matriculating with the mortal world below the hill like her father could. She saw no point to any of it, partly because she was still in denial that she was destined to remain on Earth for the rest of her days with no chance of going home to Asgard and seeing Loki again. She had lost count how many times she had cried herself to sleep or screamed skyward at Heimdall to open the Bifrost, or cursed Odin with piercing venom in her voice.

Her one, true solace was in her son.

Yes, she had her father and she had Astrid and Astrid's children, and she loved them all very greatly, but the love a mother had for her son was something that could not be surpassed. Sigyn would freely give her life for Narfi if the occasion ever arose. He was her entire world now and her only reason for going on. Without him, life would be the darkest existence for her. He was the only star in her sky and without him she would be walking blindly through the night.

After taking up residence with her father in the castle in Nagold, after she had gathered her wits about her, upon realizing the dire consequences she now faced as a result of leaving Asgard against Odin's decree, Sigyn had sent for Astrid, the children and Willem. It was settled that Astrid and her children would live in the castle as well, with Astrid as Sigyn's lady-in-waiting. They had to create a story for themselves; a story of who they all were in regard to "Herr Ludwig von Himmel". Sigyn, obviously, remained his daughter and Narfi her son, but for all intent purposes she was pretending to be widowed. It wasn't completely wrong. After all, Odin appeared to have gotten his wish in killing her marriage to Loki; although, truly, it could never die. They had bound themselves together, forever.

As for Astrid, it was suggested she pretend to be a relation of Sigyn's "deceased" husband (from Scotland, naturally). So, Astrid became Sigyn's sister-in-law; the sister Sigyn always wanted. Sigyn saw to it that Mary and James received the best tutors available and made it her mission to make sure they would have happy and healthy lives. As for Willem, he was given a position in the household as a personal servant to Narfi.

Over the next decade, life was rather perfect, all things considered.

Mary had grown into a beautiful young woman who had eventually fallen in love with Willem. Willem, as well, had had been relieved of servant duties in order to become a husband to marry. As a wedding gift, Lodur and Sigyn had parted with a substantial sum of money to set the young couple up with their own homestead in town but close to the road leading to the castle so that visiting was easy. They were married when Mary was seventeen and she was now twenty-four, with four young children of her own underfoot and a fifth on the way. James, her brother, was now twenty-one years old and become an exceptionally handsome young man with his mother's dark hair and eyes, making him quite the eligible bachelor amongst the noble daughters in the area. While his relation to the "von Himmels" was still questionable in the public mind, since he was only the "nephew" to Herr Himmel's daughter and unnamed son-in-law, but Lodur had bequeathed a substantial sum of money on James upon his own marriage as well. Lodur had taken to Astrid's children just as easily as Sigyn had and saw quite a bit of himself in James; helping to rear him as the son he never had, much to Astrid's gratefulness. While she appreciated Sigyn's strength in the early years together, Astrid knew her son needed a male figure in his life to teach him how to be a man.

There was the subject of Narfi, however. He was nearly twelve years old, but physically he looked no more than seven. His Jotun-Asgardian genetics meant he aged at a slower rate than human children. It would still be a number of years before he passed out of childhood and would be considered an adult. By that time, Sigyn figured James would be a grandfather. They had to let go of servants quite often to keep them all oblivious to Narfi's lack of physical change. Mary's oldest child, a daughter named Maria, was almost as old as Narfi looked.

Sigyn remained unchanged by the years as well whereas Astrid was in her forties now and looked the part. She didn't always look so old to Sigyn, but on some days Astrid looked a bit tired and the corners of her eyes were lined with crow's feet. Her hair was graying as well and she wasn't as spry as she once was. Not saying she was elderly, but she had lost a certain luster in recent years. However, it wasn't just her appearance that had changed. Astrid had followed suit where her daughter was concerned and had fallen in love. After nearly twenty years of being a widow, a man entered Astrid's life that made her happy, which Sigyn wanted more than anything for her friend. Sigyn, herself, would be alone the rest of her life where romantic companionship was concerned, but there was no reason Astrid had to live the same lonely life.

The man in question was the great-grandson of a man Lodur had befriended many a year before; each generation knowledgeable of Lodur's actual identity and his lack of aging, who occasionally helped Lodur reestablish a new identity for himself when he moved on from whichever place he was currently residing in. The man's name was Bjørn Engebretsen and he, like his family, hailed from Tønsberg, Norway. He was one of the gentlest men Sigyn had ever had the pleasure to meet and she was never happier in seeing how Astrid seemed to glow around him. He treated her like a princess, loved her children and grandchildren like his own and seemed just as smitten with her as she was with him.

On an early autumn evening, while Sigyn sat at the vanity table in her bedchamber, studying her reflection while she brushed her hair, there came a knock at the door. A cool breeze billowed in from her an open window as she turned her head ever so slightly to look over shoulder.

"Come in," she called out, expecting it to be her chamber maid come to turn down her bed for her or some other inconsequential task.

"Ooh, it's cold in here."

Sigyn turned more fully to find it was Astrid in the room, crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing her arms with her hands to shake away the chilled air offending her human vulnerabilities. Sigyn smiled; as always, pleased to see her friend.

"I know enough by now to ask whether or not the cold is bothering you. You are all but immune to that which offends us lesser beings." Astrid teased as she walked up behind Sigyn and took her hairbrush from her. "Let me."

Sigyn turned back to stare into the mirror, only this time she was joined by Astrid's reflection as well, which she now focused her attention on. "I am not used to seeing people age so quickly, but you are doing it rather well," she commented. "Still as beautiful as the day we first met."

"As the day you almost literally fell into our laps," Astrid corrected. She then shrugged and made a face. "I'm nowhere near as lovely as I once was. I was seventeen when I married my husband, the same as Mary when she married Willem. I was the best looking girl in the village; quite the catch. I could've had my pick of any young man I wanted. My father made a decent wage as a sheep herder; we never wanted for food or warmth. But then my father died and a sickness took most of the herd. My mother had to sell what was left just to put food on the table and to pay off debts we hadn't known my father had racked up. I suddenly had nothing to offer should a marriage proposal come my way. I was just a pretty face and nothing more."

Sigyn remained silent during Astrid's recollections, as she brushed Sigyn's hair for her.

"And that's where my Thomas came in," Sigyn smiled at the memory in her mind. "Our families had known each other for years and he had lost both his parents. He was their only surviving child, so he was pretty much alone in the world, making a living as a farmer. He kept to himself, away from town, but after my father died, he made it his mission to come into town and visit me. He gave my mother, my younger siblings and me part of his crop for nothing, because he claimed he had more than enough to share. My mother suspected otherwise soon enough and she was correct in her suspicions. See, like most the young men, Thomas also saw me as a pretty face. But unlike the other young men, he still liked me with no dowry. He liked me for me. He made me laugh and smile and it helped me forget about my grief over losing my father, to whom I was very close, much like you to yours."

Astrid set the hairbrush down on the table and pulled Sigyn's hair down over her back and placed her hands on Sigyn's shoulders. Their eyes made contact in the mirror.

"I know you know this story of how I married Thomas, but there is a point I am getting at."

"I am in no rush," Sigyn quipped.

Astrid stepped away and sat down on the edge of Sigyn's bed with her hands clasped together in her hands. "A love like the one I had with Thomas, for the longest time, I thought was a once in a life kind of thing. When I lost Thomas, I thought I would never love again and would be alone forever, until the day I died."

Sigyn nodded, looking away from Astrid with a knowing smirk on her lips. "I can see where this conversation is going. You are about to tell me I don't have to be alone forever, too, are you not? That in time, my grief of being separated from Loki will not be so strong and I will love again? Am I right?"

"Well, yes, I do believe that. But I wasn't actually speaking of your predicament this time because not everything is about you, your highness," Astrid remarked with a playful grin.

Sigyn grinned back and gave Astrid her full attention again; turning her body so that both women faced each other from where they sat. "Very well; who's predicament are you speaking of this time? Has James found some pretty girl to make his bride?"

"No," Astrid shook her head. "It is about me."

"Oh?"

"Bjørn has asked me if I would become his wife."

Sigyn widened her eyes. "Has he?"

Astrid nodded. "Yes." Her face fell slightly. "Are you upset by this?"

"Oh, Astrid, no." Sigyn stood up and knelt down before her friend, taking hold of her hands. "I am so very pleased for you. Bjørn is a wonderful man who is very worthy of you in every possible way and you deserve to be happy and loved again."

"I am so very glad you think so."

"When do you plan to wed him?"

"Soon, I hope."

"Well, whatever you need, I will see to that it is taken care of. I shall give you the beautiful wedding you so richly deserve."

Astrid smiled her thanks. It wasn't necessary that she verbally say it. "You seemed rather lost in thought when I came in here. Is something plaguing your mind, sister?"

Touched as always by being referred to as Astrid's sister, Sigyn nodded. "There is soon to be a change in this household that I have not been looking forward to since we met and became like family." She paused and looked her dear friend in the eyes. "My father, son and I are not aging the same. You know this. There are only so many times we can go through changes in the serving staff so they become none the wiser. My father has already been in this location for long enough. He looked like a middle aged man when he first arrived. By all accounts and human standards, he should be dead by now or at least close to it."

It was clear that Astrid had a sense of what was being said but she needed it said out loud. "Are we leaving?"

"Yes, _we_ are, as in my father, son and I. You and yours will remain here."

"But we agreed to stay together until the day I died. Friends and sisters till the end."

"That was before this new life was presented to you and your family; when we were traveling on horseback around Europe with no constant home and no end to our travels in sight. You will have a good life here should you remain. Your children have set their roots down here now and none of you will want for anything and neither will your children's children and so on. My father has made plans to leave everything to your son. He will fake his death and I shall have to fake my son's so it would appear that he had been a sickly child. As the closest male heir, James will inherit the estate and all that comes with it."

Astrid seemed quite taken back and Sigyn couldn't tell if it was a good reaction or a bad one.

"You will all be able to remain on here, but my father, son and I cannot." Leaning forward, Sigyn took Astrid's hands in hers. "I will return in time to visit you as often as I can without raising local suspicion. Or I will send for you to visit me. We will figure it out. I will always come whenever you truly need me."

"I am going to miss you so terribly," Astrid commented, tears stinging at her eyes.

"And I you," Sigyn replied. "You have been the sister I've always wanted, the best friend anyone could ever hope to have and when you're old and gray and nearing your end, I will be at your bedside, easing you into your next journey just as we've discussed so many times. I promised I will be there and I always keep my promises."

"It will not be the same, though."

"I know; but nothing ever really can, can it?"

Astrid shook her head, pulling one of her hands back to wipe some tears away. "No, I suppose not."

"Time is cruel on both ends of our spectrums. You have barely enough compared to me, but I am the one who has to live so very long without you in my life."

"In a few hundred years you will have forgotten me."

"I will never, ever forget you." Sigyn assured as both women smiled warmly and a bit ruefully before standing up and embracing each other. She then whispered into Astrid's hair, "You are unforgettable."

 

* * *

 

By the first snowfall of winter, Astrid had married Bjørn and both Lodur and Narfi's deaths had been faked. News of the deaths was purposely spread down to the town, and they were said to have succumbed to sudden illness. The family was supposedly in mourning and accepting no visitors to the castle who might offer their condolences in person. Caskets filled with sacks of dirt and stone, to give the illusion of body weight, were buried in graves on the estate grounds. Headstones were commissioned as well that said their names only. James took over as lord of the manor and took to the position with finesse; taught well how to run the estate and business ventures by Lodur. The entire time, however, Lodur and Narfi had left in the dead of night, dressed as paupers as they made their way out of town and would await Sigyn to join them in a few days.

In the dark of night while flakes of snow fell carelessly on the trees, about a week before Christmas, or _Weihnachten_ , Sigyn made her rounds to bid farewell to Astrid and her family. Mary and Willem had come up to the castle in advance, knowing Sigyn was soon to leave. She hugged and kissed them all, including Mary's children, and there was not a dry eye to be seen.

Sigyn stood before them all, dressed in a dark winter cloak with the hood down and gloves on her hands. She had no need to look like a pauper because the story the others would tell about what happened to her was that, in her grief, she had gone to live with relations in Norway. She was taking her belongings with her, as well as those belongings of her father's and Narfi's they didn't want to leave behind. She would share the burden of transporting the luggage with her father when she met up with him and her son.

"I was born not of this world, a few centuries ago. I have seen and done things you cannot imagine. I have dined in the great halls of Asgard alongside those men and women who you heard about only in stories and some of your fellow man even worship as Gods. My life will be long and great and I will do and see many more things long after you are all gone and your graves are cold and the writing on your gravestones are illegible. However, despite all I have experienced and have yet to experience, these last thirteen years have been the most memorable." Sigyn smiled at each and every one of them, committing their faces to her memory forever in case something happened and she never got to see them after this night. "The family I was born into is complicated and their actions have on occasion been on the side of overly dramatic. You all know I left behind my husband Loki to come here to find my father, and I will be forever in sorrow for not being able to return to him. I also left behind my mother and two sisters, but they never felt like family to me the way all of you do. You matter more to me than my mother and sisters, and I would choose all of you a thousand times over them. Were I able to return to Asgard in your lifetimes, I would make it my mission to bring each and every one of you with me."

"We would be honored to go with you, too," James remarked. He had always been so interested in her life in Asgard and regaled in the stories she told him as a boy.

A tear stung the corner of Sigyn's eye as she focused on him. "Oh, I am sure you would do just fine there," she laughed. "All those Asgardian handmaidens would fall at your feet with that face of yours, especially with your charm. Whatever woman you choose as your bride in the future will be very lucky to have you." Sigyn took a deep breath and smiled. "I do not wish to drag this out any further. I will return in time to see you all again, and I shall write to you frequently so you know where to find me if you need me."

She couldn't bring herself to say anything else. Sigyn simply smiled and turned her back to them and began to walk out of the reception room and into the grand entrance hall, shutting the doors behind her. Outside was her awaiting horse and the wooden cart it would be pulling that contained her luggage, but before she had the outer doors opened, the doors to the reception room did and footsteps scurried behind her. Sigyn turned and saw it was Astrid.

Neither woman spoke. Astrid merely pulled Sigyn into hug as tight as her human arms could manage; a hug that could quite possibly harm any other human but was only comforting to an Asgardian such as Sigyn.

"Do not be away from us for too long," Astrid pleaded.

Sigyn nodded. "I will do my best." She placed a hand on the back of Astrid's head and brought her lips upon Astrid's forehead, whispering, "Parting is such sweet sorrow, is it not?"

"Most definitely." As they pulled back from each other at arm's length, Astrid added, "Do not say goodbye. It is too final."

"What shall I say then?"

"Till we meet again."

Sigyn smirked, and nodded. "Till we meet again, dear sister," she repeated. She took Astrid's hand in hers and kissed the top of it and then turned around, letting Astrid's hand fall away.

She opened the outer doors and stepped outside into the cold, winter night that bothered her not in the least. She could sense Astrid was standing behind her in the doorway, watching as she pulled herself up onto the seat of the wooden cart and took the reins in her hands. She would not turn around and look back at Astrid. Sigyn needed to look forward and focus on meeting up with her son and father.

It was time for her to close this chapter of her life story. It was one of her favorites that she would revisit when possible, but it was said and done and it was time to move on.

As she coaxed the horse to lead the way down away from the castle, as the snow fell around them, she wondered how many more humans would enter her life through the coming centuries that would find a place to rest in her heart. She knew, however, none could ever compare to Astrid, James and Mary.

They were the first and would always matter the most.


	19. Ashes to Ashes

* * *

 

**Author's Note : Unfortunately, something went wrong and apparently Ch. 19 was somehow replaced with Ch. 34. Since I no longer have Ch. 19 to reupload it and there is no way I could rewrite it, from memory, this is a summary of what I remember happening:**

\- Sigyn, Narfi and her father Lodur moved on from Nagold and eventually settled in Tønsberg, Norway.

\- Sigyn returned occasionally to visit Astrid, but arrived too late after learning Astrid had taken ill. She was not able to be there at Astrid's bedside when she died, but was there for the funeral, in which Astrid's body was sent down the river in a boat and set alight by a fiery arrow, making it a funeral pyre.

\- Sigyn stayed on for a while to visit Astrid's children, Mary and James, and their respective families. Mary had a few children by this point and had a daughter which she named after Sigyn, and that Sigyn took a special liking too.

\- Sigyn eventually returned to Tønsberg, but once again came back to Nagold to visit Astrid's children and grandchildren and when she left again, brought her namesake "Siggie" with her.

For the life of me, that is all I can remember and I apologize for the inconvenience.

The story should continue un-fucked up after this.

**/sadface**

 


	20. Light In The Dark

* * *

 

After remaining in Tønsberg for another two years, Sigyn and her family, including Siggie, moved on again. It was the year 1201 and they traveled away from Norway altogether, across the North Sea by boat with all their belongings to settle Grimsby, a fishing and trading port in England that was granted its town charter by King John just that year. They found a decent home to rent. Siggie amazed Sigyn in how she seemed perfectly contented to be away from her parents and siblings. At twenty-one she was due for a marriage and family of her own like her sister Maria, but she had no sights on any man just yet. She just loved the adventure of living in new places and meeting new people.

Another two years later, however, Siggie met a young fisherman name George Fynch whom she fell in love with. She sent a letter home to Nagold and the response from Mary and Willem said that only if Sigyn approved of the match could Siggie marry her fisherman. Seeing how greatly the young pair seemed to love each other, Sigyn could not say no. She bequeathed the twenty-three year old a considerable dowry and helped build them a nice home outside town near the marshes alongside Lodur and Narfi.

It seemed as if Siggie's adventures with Sigyn and the others had come to an end and there didn't feel like anything else was keeping Sigyn tied to Grimsby. Siggie was too wrapped up in her new life and eventually starting her own family that she had little to no time for Sigyn, who didn't hold it against the young woman but still felt a little sad. She decided it was time to move on again, but promising to keep in touch. This time, they chose some place warmer. Sigyn, Lodur and Narfi traveled south toward Portsmouth where they found passage on a ship along the French coastline that made harbor in Santander, Spain. And there they stayed for about a decade before moving east toward Barcelona.

During their eleventh year in Barcelona, Sigyn received letter from Nagold announcing that James was ill. He had lost his wife years earlier and now he was nearing his own end. Sigyn, Lodur and Narfi all returned to be there at his bedside in his final days. Sigyn sat holding his hand most nights which seemed the roughest times for him. James' eldest son, Edward, was first introduced to Sigyn then and at first he had always thought she and her husband Loki were just the myth he had read about, but when she demonstrated her strength and magic for him, he changed his tune. He was a man of thirty-three and set to inherit the castle estate which he would pass on to his own son William, who was currently only five years old and seemed to enjoy climbing up onto Sigyn's lap to hear the stories she once told his grandfather James as a boy.

Narfi looked more like a human man in his late teens or early twenties and seemed to catch the eye of one or two of Mary's granddaughters, much to Sigyn's amusement.

However, any good times were over when James slipped into the afterlife just after midnight, Sigyn's sixth night there.

He had planned his funeral arrangements in advance, desiring his body to be laid upon a funeral pyre on land; not on water, like his mother. His decision was as such because he wanted the ashes to be collected and divided into thirds. One third would be scattered over his wife's grave where she was buried alongside her family's plot in town, another third would be scattered over the river where his mother went and the last third he wanted Sigyn to take back with her and scatter over his father's grave back in the Highlands of Scotland. Sigyn remembered the grave. It was located behind where their home had been. She felt it would be an honor to return part of him to the place he was born. It seemed fitting.

James was laid in state in the reception room off the grand entrance hall so that the local landowners and other nobles in town could come pay their respects during the day. At sunset, his body was brought out to the courtyard and laid upon some dry wood and kindling. As she had for Astrid twenty-five years earlier, Sigyn covered James' face with a sheer veil while his grandchildren walked around placing flowers they had picked all around him. In his hands he held a small wooden cross the local priest had given the family earlier in the day while he said prayers over the body. James' sons Edward, Philip and Karl approached the pyre with torches; lighting the base at different points and up a little further before leaving the torches at the base to burn with the rest of the pyre.

Edward stepped back with and joined his wife and children and James' other children did the same with their own families. Only family and servants were present. James didn't want anyone else present at his funeral. Mary, at sixty-five years old, was crying hard, despite everyone doing their best to remain composed and silent. She wore a black veil over her head that hid the fact that her red hair had gone white in recent years. Saying goodbye to her mother had been difficult, but one always expects to lose their parents first. James had been her little brother, younger by three years, and she never expected he would go before she did. She was the last of her first, immediate family. Her parents and her brother were gone. Even Willem was gone now. All she had was the younger generations.

As James' body burned, a pillar of white smoke billowed skyward as Mary linked her arm through Sigyn's. Lodur stood behind with Narfi; the latter fighting the urge to cry. He had played with James when he was a young child and now he was an old human man of sixty-two and he was gone.

Narfi didn't stay much longer. He didn't want to watch the body of his old friend burn anymore, so he went back into the castle, to the kitchen, found a cask of ale and poured himself a drink.

He was no boy anymore.

Despite looking like he was a human man in his early twenties and usually had to pass himself off as his mother's brother instead of her son, he was technically fifty-three years old and he had the mentality of a much older man. His mother referred to him as an old soul sometimes. She had told him most young Asgardian men had half the maturity as him at his age.

Sigyn, Mary, Lodur and Edward remained outside in the courtyard for the next few hours until the pyre had completed its task of cremating James' body. The others had returned inside to begin the funeral celebration. That had been James' last request. He wanted them to celebrate his life, not mourn it. There were hired minstrels and plenty of food and wine was being provided by the kitchen staff.

When Sigyn and her father eventually made their way inside, they found Narfi looking like a lump on a log, nursing a cup of wine in one hand with his head down, staring at his feet.

"Are you alright, son?" Sigyn asked, running her fingers into the hair on the back of his head.

He looked up at her upon the gesture and shrugged. He took a swig of wine first before replying. "I don't want to come back here for anymore funerals. When we return to visit, it should be when everyone is alive and well. That is how I want to last see someone; alive, not burning into a pile of ash and cinders." His green eyes implored his mother. "Will you promise me, mother?"

Sigyn offered a comforting smile and nodded. "If that is what you want, you do not need to return for anymore funerals from here on out."

"Thank you."

The corners of her mouth lifted a bit more as she removed her hand from his head and gave his shoulder a squeeze instead. "Go enjoy yourself with the others. James didn't want any of us to mourn him. Go tell funny stories to the children, dance with some of Mary's granddaughters who have been trying to flirt with you all week. Maybe even get a kiss out of one of them."

" _Mother_ ," Narfi admonished, color flushing his cheeks.

"What? They look eager enough."

Despite himself, Narfi stood up and went over toward three of Mary's granddaughters who were huddled together. Two belonged to Mary's son Thomas and one belonged to Mary's son Luther. Standing off to the side while Narfi chatted up the girls at his mother's insistence and while Lodur had begun a conversation with Edward and his wife Johanna, Sigyn found herself flanked by Mary once more. She seemed considerably more composed than she had been earlier, but she still kept the black veil over her face.

"Why the veil, may I ask?"

"Someone has to play the widow," Mary replied with a shrug. "Mother is gone, and James outlived Margareta. I am the oldest woman in the family."

"I beg to differ," Sigyn casually gestured to herself.

Mary smirked. "You know what I mean."

"I do."

"Narfi has finally grown into a handsome young man and it only took him a lifetime."

Sigyn grinned. "He used to look so much like his father in his younger years but now I see more of myself, which is a bit disheartening, if I'm being honest."

"How so?"

"I haven't see Loki in more than half a century and I was hoping I could see him by simply looking at our son, but my traits had to go and dominate Loki's traits."

"He is a very polite and sweet boy—man," Mary corrected herself.

"It's alright. He's still just a boy to me."

"Is it impolite of me to ask how old you are now? I don't think you ever actually said when you first arrived to us."

Sigyn counted back to how old she was when she fell to Midgard and the amount of years she had been here. "Two hundred and fifty four," she replied. "Exceptionally young by Asgardian standards and exceptionally old by human standards."

"My Lord, that is quite a lot of years," Mary chuckled. "You are about four times my age and you only look a third of it; that's just not fair."

"At least you don't have to witness each and every person here grow old and die."

"That sounds pretty horrible, too. I guess you have to take the good with the bad."

Sigyn nodded in agreement.

Two weeks later, she was back in Scotland with Narfi while Lodur had returned home to Barcelona. She carried with her a clay pot contained ashes from James' funeral pyre to be scattered over the grave of Thomas Thornley, his father. However, fifty-four years before, when Sigyn first arrived, the makeshift cross that signified where Thomas was buried was already a bit weather worn then. They were able to find the old homestead which was still empty. It looked as if someone might have lived in it for a time years ago, but not anymore. Sigyn and Narfi walked inside and she showed him all the nooks and crannies and told him stories about the life she led there before he was born and during his first year and a half of life.

She pointed out where the small stable used to stand but was just an empty space. It was most likely picked apart by scavengers to use as firewood or to build something else. There was also no obvious garden anymore where the vegetables used to grow. Behind the house, up a slight incline between two trees is where Thomas Thornley had been buried, but the cross was gone now as well. Possibly the wood was also stolen for other purposes. All that mattered was that Sigyn knew where Thomas was buried.

Narfi assisted her in removing the lid from the pot so that she could crouch down and pour the ashes out onto the grass. To prevent most of it from blowing away in the wind, she had first dug a hole about three inches deep and then covered up what the wind didn't successfully whisk away.

"Give me that stone over there."

Narfi looked toward a very large stone no human could think to carry but it was easy enough for Asgardians such as themselves. Narfi lifted the stone up and brought it over; setting it down to the ground over the ash-filled hole Sigyn had just covered up. In her satchel, she had a chisel she purchased from a blacksmith to use for this exact moment. Using her strength, Sigyn was able to carve the names of Thomas Thornley and, underneath, James Thornley.

"You should add Astrid and Mary's names," Narfi suggested. "They might not end up here, but they lived here."

"By that logic, I should add our names."

"We won't die for another few thousand years, mother. That would be a little premature. This was their home as a family first."

"Very well."

On the other side of the stone, Sigyn added the names Astrid Macleod Thornley and, underneath, Mary Thornley Bauer.

Standing up to inspect her work, Sigyn was pleased. Putting away the chisel, she offered her son her hand, which he took and the two of them walked away from the old Thornley homestead to begin their trek back to Barcelona.

 

* * *

 

Five years later, while they were living in the south of France, Sigyn received a letter that Mary had died. As promised, she didn't make Narfi go with her and instead returned once more to Nagold for the funeral. Unlike Astrid and James, Mary had chosen to be buried alongside Willem in the grounds beside the church where Margareta was buried and a third of James' ashes had been scattered. Siggie had not been able to make the journey from England for the funeral, and neither did Sigyn but Sigyn had been able to at least go and pay her respects at Mary's grave. She had taken some soil from the fresh grave and placed it into a jar. She planned to bring it to Siggie so she could have a part of her mother back with her.

Sigyn communicated frequently with her namesake and new over the last few decades the now forty-nine year old Siggie had become a mother of seven children, one of whom was her eldest daughter named Astrid, and was the only one of Siggie's children to have children of her own just yet; two sons so far, apparently.

It was starting to get confusing keeping track of all the generations so Sigyn made the conscious decision to follow only certain branches from Astrid's family tree. Siggie's obviously, and then Edward, as he was James' oldest son.

In twenty-five more years, Edward had died. His son William was forty, married and had seven children; the oldest being a son Ludwig, whose line Sigyn planned to keep the most contact with. She returned every ten years to Nagold for a few weeks, but with each generation it felt more and more like she was an outsider and a stranger than the beloved Aunt Sigyn she had once been.

By this time, she was living just outside Athens with Narfi. Lodur had decided he wanted to go north again and settled in a fishing village in Denmark, enjoying some solitude. After all, he hadn't been deemed the God of Solitude back in Asgard for nothing.

While sitting outside their home, enjoying a sunset and sharing some wine, Narfi turned to his mother and chuckled.

"What is it?" she questioned with an amused gaze.

"Watching the humans with their parents, there is always an obvious age difference that you can tell you the parent is and who the child is. With us, however, an outsider wouldn't realize we were mother and son."

"Well, I did have you quite young. Most Asgardians tend to wait until at least their first thousand years to have children." She grinned and tucked Narfi's hair behind his ear. "Fate had other plans. You were meant to be."

"So, if I had been born a few centuries from now instead, the difference between us would be obvious like between you and grandfather?"

Sigyn nodded. "Yes."

"Mother?"

"Hmm?"

"You tell me about your childhood, about how grandfather was in Asgard when you were younger, and obviously you tell me about my father, but you never speak of your mother or your sisters."

"Because my mother and I never saw eye to eye except for that brief period of time where I was engaged to be married to another man, before your father," she replied.

"Theoric?"

"Yes, him," nodded Sigyn.

It seemed like thousands of years ago already, trying to remember Theoric's face. She had loved him as much as she could, but she had never been in love with him. Looking back she was fairly certain if she had ended up marrying him, if he hadn't have died, their marriage would turned stale and would have probably turned to Loki anyway.

Everything in her life always came back to Loki.

"What was Grandmother Freya like?"

Sigyn sighed. "She was, is, aloof yet stern. I never seemed to live up to whatever expectations she had for me. I was the daughter of the Goddess of Beauty and Love, and while I was beautiful in my own right, not having the typical golden hair most Asgardian's have made her resent me a little, I think. I looked more like my father and since my parents grew to despise each other in the years leading up to his banishment, I think all she saw when she looked at me was him and that dredged up bad feelings. I was only this constant reminder of the man she loathed, a failed marriage and the embarrassment my father had brought to us for his treason against Odin. Her marriage to my first stepfather, Odr, gave her two daughters who were more or less little copies of herself; fair-haired, blue-eyed and maintaining the ability to captivate everyone and anyone." Sigyn's sour expression from recollecting memories of her mother changed to a smirk quite suddenly. "And, oh, how she seemed to truly dislike your father. My guess is she knew the truth of your father, who he really was – a Jotun, adopted and, in her eyes, not truly an Asgardian; therefore not worthy of my friendship and eventually my love. That paired with his penchant for trouble- and mischief-making, he was a stone in her shoe."

Narfi smiled, pleasantly. "Will I ever meet father?"

Sigyn looked at her son. She wasn't sure he ever would meet Loki, but she hoped so. Because of her hope, she chose to give him the happier answer instead of what he gut told her. "Yes, I believe so," she said calmly. "In time, Odin will see the error of keeping you and Loki apart. You are Loki's son, and whether adopted or not, Loki is Odin's son which makes you Odin's grandson. Why he would not allow his innocent grandson the right the live in the land of his people and know his family, especially his father, is beyond me."

"Odin sounds like a stubborn, old fool."

Sigyn let out a hearty cackle of laughter. "Yes, yes, indeed he is." She snorted a bit. Narfi's comment had made her truly happy to have someone else agree with her so openly. Back in Asgard, something like that said in the open with just anyone was quite punishable. "Oh, Narfi, my beautiful son; you make this life all the better." She turned and pulled him into a hug. "My world would be dark without you in it."


	21. Hell Hath No Fury

* * *

 

In the early hours of morning, in early spring, Sigyn was lying upon the ground in the garden of the chateau in Polminhac, France where she was currently residing with still only Narfi. It had been almost a century now since losing Astrid, and about sixty-five to seventy years since Mary and James. All of Mary and James' children were gone now, including most of their grandchildren. Sigyn still kept tabs on several of the family lines, which had branched off of Siggie and Edward, Mary and James' children, respectively. Edward's son William had died twenty years earlier and now the Nagold estate was in the hands of his son Ludwig, who was in his mid-forties, married to a woman named Theresa and a father of four children. The last time she had visited Nagold, Ludwig had just fathered his first born, Frederick.

Sigyn would never say it out loud, but she had thought Frederick to be quite an ugly baby. To be quite honest, it seemed the current generations descended from James lacked anything that resembled James or his mother, for whom he looked like. The current generations were all fair-haired and with bright eyes; traits they inherited from those that married into the Thornley family and remained dominant over time.

Ludwig, as Sigyn remembered, had been quite spoiled in his youth by his mother, mostly. His father William had been sterner but usually gave way to his wife's flights of fancy. Ludwig seemed to have grown into a responsible adult but she wondered how his parenting skills had become since entering fatherhood two decades ago.

Her own life as a parent had, for all accounts, been easy. Narfi had been such a calm child and well-behaved. He had always been more mature for his years than the average Asgardian youth. Part of it she felt was because he had no other children like him to play with. Occasionally he would play with kids who looked the same age as him, even if he was mentally much more intellectual. Asgardians were omnilingual so teaching him to talk, read and write had been a breeze.

She missed his toddling years, when he wanted her to hold and carry him around and was small enough to fall asleep in her arms or in her lap as she told him stories and played with his hair.

Now he was a year shy of one hundred and twenty-five years old. Still quite young by Asgardian standards, but he had aged into a fine man; one Loki, she was sure, would be proud of. His dark hair hung to his shoulders, his was growing a full beard, which reminded her a bit of Thor in a way. His bright green eyes were a lovely contrast against his dark mane and glowing skin tone which had bronzed somewhat in recent years under the Midgardian sun.

Genetically, he should've been more fair like her or Loki, and immune to the sun's influence, but perhaps it had something to do with Narfi having been born on Earth and not on Asgard.

"Mother," came the deep male voice approaching from several feet away.

Sigyn turned her head; the coolness of the green grass caressing the side of her face as she saw Narfi's feet first before craning her head to look up at him.

"Yes, darling boy?"

Narfi stopped and smirked. "I am no boy anymore, mother."

"Shh," she cut him off. "I'm pretending you still are and it's been quite lovely."

He crouched down beside her with his hands clasped between his legs while she briefly touched her hand to one of his ankles and gave it a pat.

"I grow weary of this place. We're so secluded from people all the time," he spoke. "I want to live in a city. I need some noise." Narfi looked up, out toward the trees beyond the property. "I will go on my own if I need to. I suppose I should go off on my own at some point. It seems like a rite of passage I might be missing out on."

"Are you threatening to abandon me if I don't concede to your demands?" she smirked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Of course not, mother. I don't threaten." He then grinned mischievously down at her in such a way that all she saw was Loki in him. "I make promises and keep them."

Sigyn sat up and gave his calf a squeeze. "That's my boy." Then, "You'd do well serving in an army as the leader of a battalion."

"I'm not so sure," he shrugged. "I've never learned to properly fight."

"I never taught you?"

Narfi shook his head.

"Well, then, help your mother to her feet and I shall begin instruction post haste. Better late than never."

 

* * *

 

By autumn, Sigyn had sent a letter to Ludwig announcing she and Narfi would be coming to make a temporary home once again in Nagold and asked if he might look into lodgings nearby for them. Ludwig had sent word back to her than lodgings elsewhere was nonsense and that she and Narfi could stay with them; there was plenty of room.

Taking their time, Sigyn and Narfi arrived in just a week by way of a horse and carriage they had built together based on designs from Asgardian horse-drawn carts. They arrived with little to no fanfare. Gone were the days when the children were excited to see Sigyn and Narfi. Ludwig was cordial and welcoming, though a touch reserved.

They were shown to their rooms with their chests of clothing and other belongings brought up with them by servants. Sigyn was in the room once occupied by Mary as a child so that felt quite nice. After getting settled, they joined the family for the midday meal and talked of their travels and how France had been recently and Greece before that. Ludwig was polite in asking about how Lodur was doing, to which Sigyn gave a simple answer that he was fine. They hadn't seen each other in a few years but wrote frequently. Sigyn and Narfi were properly introduced to Ludwig's four children: Frederick, Anna, Francesca and Oscar. The only one of all of them that Sigyn felt any initial affection for was Oscar, the baby of the family at thirteen. Perhaps she would keep up to date on his branch as the years went along.

The first weeks were awkward.

Sigyn found herself going on walks with Narfi around the castle grounds and down into the town which was more of a city now. Her and Narfi were pretending to be siblings; distant cousins to Ludwig. She took up looming with Ludwig's wife Theresa during the days, enjoyed listening to the girls practice the lute or watching Oscar playing in the courtyard with his five Schnauzer pups, if he wasn't being tutored.

When it came down to it, Sigyn didn't feel like staying too long in Nagold. It wasn't their place anymore and she hoped Narfi felt the same way. But, if he didn't, and wanted to stay longer, she would acquiesce.

Two years in and Sigyn was itching to move away. She just didn't feel at home with Ludwig's family and wanted to check up on her father. He was in Scotland, and apparently assisting some Highlanders in their fight against the English in a war for independence. She had never known her father to be a fighting type unless he felt it was just and clearly Lodur felt strongly for the Scottish plight. She was interested in going to him and fighting alongside him. After all, Scotland was the land in which she first arrived when she came to Midgard and met Astrid. It seemed defending her old friend's native country was the right thing. However, Narfi was enjoying himself and become decent friends with Frederick, much to Sigyn's displeasure.

Despite her best efforts, Sigyn turned a bit into her mother by chastising her son for befriending the likes of Ludwig's narcissistic offspring. She tried not to be so verbal with Narfi about her dislike for Frederick by bringing up his faults. Even though she had her son's best interest in heart, not wanting him to consort with such a vain ass, she realized she was doing to Narfi what her mother did to her in regard to Loki. Freya had judged Loki without truly knowing him the way Sigyn did, so maybe Narfi knew Frederick was a better man than he usually perceived himself to be. Sigyn did her best to stop herself before she would say anything to upset her son. They had gotten into several arguments already over the friendship and she needed to realize that her son was a man now and able to make his own decisions about who he wanted to be friends with. Sigyn could express her opinion but not force them on her son.

It was just going to be difficult to do.

Frederick was such an _asshole_.

 

* * *

 

Three years later, it was a new century.

Ludwig's daughters were both married and moved away to neighboring cities, which left only Frederick and Oscar at home. Narfi and Frederick were near inseparable until that point and Sigyn had noticed that her son's presence and life experience seemed to have worked its magic on Frederick somehow. The latter seemed to have matured considerably under Narfi's tutelage.

Their friendship actually amused Sigyn now and reminded her quite a lot of the relationship between Loki and Thor. And, of course, that made her long for Loki yet again. She was able to go weeks without thinking of him, but the moment she did, he was on her mind nonstop for months and she would go into short bouts of depression.

Fortunately, she had her son as a lovely distraction.

Recently she had seen him grow fond of a young woman named Ilse who was the daughter of one of Ludwig's oldest friends. Ilse was delicate and pretty with thick brown hair and warm chocolate eyes and a smile that could melt ice. Sigyn could completely understand why Narfi was so captivated by her. She could also see how conflicted he felt about her as well.

One evening, after a late meal in which Ilse and her parents were guests, Sigyn came to Narfi's chamber and sat with him to talk.

"You barely ate anything tonight," she commented. "We have the appetites of three humans when we finally sit down for a meal, so you will understand my concern."

"I have a lot on my mind lately."

"Yes, I have noticed."

Narfi turned and looked at his mother. "I suspect you probably know what is wrong then. You usually do."

"It's a mother's intuition; of course I know."

Narfi sighed and leaned forward to place his face into his hands. "I am in love with Ilse. She just makes my world brighter and I want to be with her always."

"Do you know if she feels the same way?"

He shrugged. "What does it matter? How would it work between us? I would never age and outlive her. What kind of life could I give her?"

"Well, for starters, love always finds a way." She ran a hand along his back in soothing circles. "If you love her, truly love her, tell her. And if she feels the same, marry her. I can make you look as if you are aging with her during the course of the life you would lead with her. I am not sure if children you would have with her would live as long as we do or as long as human, or maybe somewhere in between, but love is worth the risk."

"But she would die and I would have to live without her."

"I've lived without your father for the last one hundred and thirty years and I am still standing," she replied. "Losing a loved one to death or separation is never easy. This I know. But it cannot stop you from loving the person and living your life. You might even find love again and again and that is perfectly fine. I would rather you took one hundred brides over the expanse of your life than none at all because of the fear of losing one."

"What if she will not have me? I don't think I can handle the rejection."

"Then we will leave Nagold and find you a bride somewhere else," Sigyn smirked. "Perhaps one with larger breasts upon which to rest your head."

Narfi blanched. " _Mother_."

Sigyn chuckled. "It is so easy to make you squirm."

Sitting up straight and then leaning sideways, Narfi rested his head down on his mother's shoulder. "There is another issue at hand, though."

"What?" she inquired, turning her lean her cheek against the top of his head.

"I think Frederick loves her as well."

"Hmm, that is a quandary." Sigyn shrugged. "Well, then, let the best man win, I suppose. And we both know who I think that is."

Narfi smirked a little. "Me?" he asked teasingly.

"Of course not. Frederick is my most favorite person ever to have lived."

Narfi sat up straight again and looked Sigyn in the eye, giving her a withering look. "I do not want to ruin my friendship with him either, mother. What if loving Ilse puts a wedge between us?"

"You know how I really feel about that, but for your sake I think you need to go with what your heart tells you." She pushed some fingers through his hair. "What is it saying right now?"

"To tell Ilse I love her."

Sigyn smiled. "Then that is what you must do."

 

* * *

 

Narfi didn't tell Ilse right away how he felt, and that was fine. He was planning to, but his nerves were getting the best of him and he wanted to find the right time to do it, when they could be alone and no one else was around, which wasn't until two weeks later when she came to the castle with her family for Frederick's birthday feast. He was turning twenty-five and recently his father had been pressing him about soon finding a bride, which made Sigyn wary.

She knew both Frederick and her son had their eyes on Ilse and she would be saddened by the rift that might be caused should one of the young men get the girl over the other. Of course, Sigyn was biased and hoped it was her son instead of Frederick.

During the birthday feast, before the meal while guests were mingling and listening to minstrels playing music and dancing was had, Narfi had taken the opportunity and approached Ilse, asking her to dance. She obliged with a bright smile; happily joining him. It brought an equally bright smile to Sigyn's face; seeing her son hand in hand with the girl he loved and it made her think fondly back to dances she had shared with Loki.

Standing off to the side while gingerly nursing a cup of wine, Sigyn's eyes followed the fluid dance movements of Narfi and his intended; completely oblivious to the jealousy oozing from Frederick's eyes. He was practically shooting daggers at Narfi, as if there was some sort of unspoken truce Narfi was breaking. Frederick had joined the dance, taking his sister Francesca as a partner while her husband sat elsewhere in conversation. The dance called for partners to occasionally switch off and switch back again, a few times, and in those times, Frederick found a way to maneuver himself so that he was paired with Ilse at times. Sigyn didn't notice right away the silent play for dominance starting to build between the birthday boy and her son until toward the end of the dance when a near drunken Frederick shoved Narfi a little too harshly, causing several people to stop and quietly gasp with surprise.

Sigyn, on instinct, made a move to intercept and prevent a fight from breaking out but Ludwig was there first, placing a hand on his eldest son's shoulder and whispering something in his ear before pulling him away from the dance. Sigyn watched carefully as Frederick followed his father and then as Ilse gently touched Narfi's arm and looked up at him, speaking words Sigyn couldn't hear over the din of music and chatter from where she stood.

Sigyn could feel the change in the air, though, now. There was a certain tenseness floating above everyone's heads which wasn't helped any by the fact that Frederick kept glancing over at Narfi and Ilse, whilst downing a few drinks of ale.

Ludwig soon called for a temporary end to dancing and announced the meal was served in the Great Hall, which was adjacent to the reception room where the dancing was taking place. Sigyn made sure to stay close to her son who took a seat beside her while Ilse sat on Narfi's other side. This pleased Sigyn almost as much as it pleased Narfi. Before the meal, once everyone was seated, the local priest said a short blessing before everyone commenced eating. During the meal, Ludwig stood up and asked everyone to raise their cups as he toasted to his son.

Sigyn didn't understand why. It was only a birthday and it wasn't as if Frederick had achieved anything. He hadn't gone into military service or earned some sort of scholarly education. Everything he had had been handed to him by his father and he gave the impression that that's how he felt everything in his life would be; full of handouts. Sigyn wondered how he would manage once he inherited the castle upon his father's death. At this rate, Ludwig's younger son Oscar was better suited as an heir. He was more sensible and stalwart; considerably less juvenile and capricious than his older brother.

Despite her qualms, Sigyn smiled politely and raised her glass just the same, clinking with her son and the guest to her left before taking a sip.

When the meal was over, desserts were brought out, followed by more wine and ale for all the guests. It seemed no expense was spared for the celebration. While Sigyn found herself employed in conversation with the guest to her left, Narfi and Ilse, as well as several others, had excused themselves. Music and dancing had struck up once more in the reception room and Sigyn figured that's where Narfi and Ilse had gotten off to. She didn't learn until later that evening that Narfi had gone out into the courtyard with Ilse, away from the festivities where they could find some privacy. There he sat her down and poured his heart out to her about how he felt. He had made it clear it was alright if she didn't feel the same way and she was no way indebted to respond. He just wanted her to know and what she chose to do with that information was up to her.

Much to Narfi's delight, Ilse had breathed a sigh of relief and announced she too felt the same about him and had for some time. She was glad he had told her; she was beyond thrilled.

She kissed him and, apparently, it felt like the world had stopped moving. For Narfi, it was as if they were the only two people who existed in the universe in that very moment and he wanted nothing else in his life than to marry her. He then went with his gut and asked her if it would be imprudent of him to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Ilse replied with a smile that it would not be and she hoped her father would agree to the match.

After the festivities had died down and guests began to leave, it was the early hours of the morning and the sun was not too far off from rising. Ilse had gone home with her parents by then and most of the household had gone up to bed. Narfi found his way up to his mother's room, giving a few knocks before she called out for him to come in after he announced who it was at her door.

She was sitting in bed, reading a book, not very tired at all, and looked up to see her son practically dancing on air as he approached her beside with the silliest of smiles plastered on his face. It technically wasn't a book she was reading; it was her old journal with entries of parties from her youth, notes on magic Loki had taught her and thoughts about how much she loved Loki. Things like that she liked to reread every so often.

"What is that smile for?" she inquire, closing the journal and setting it beside her.

Narfi flopped back on the bed, staring up at the underside of the canopy with his hands folded over his chest. His grin would not leave his face for anything. "I told Ilse how I feel."

"And?" Sigyn coaxed, her own grin appearing.

"She loves me, too."

Sigyn full on beamed, lunging forward and leaning over Narfi as she wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. "Oh, my love, I am so happy for you!"

"As I am for myself."

"Obviously," she chuckled, sitting back up. "Tell me everything."

"Basically just that," he replied slyly. "Oh, and she agreed to marry me; warranted her father is alright with it."

"Pfft," Sigyn rolled her eyes. "Johann Adlersflügel would be asinine to deny a marriage between the two of you. We have more than enough money that we could waver a dowry, which would no doubt be a burden lifted off his shoulders, given he has three other daughters aside from Ilse."

Narfi let out a contented sigh. "I hope so."

"I will go with you when you ask for her hand in marriage, should he show signs of disagreement. I shall be there to sweeten the pot and persuade him to decide otherwise," Sigyn remarked. "I can be rather cunning."

"That might prove strange. Herr Adlersflügel believes you to be my sister, not my mother. What sway would you have with him?"

Sigyn turned her body and lay sideways across the mattress next Narfi, looking at his profile. "As far as he needs to know, I am your very wealthy older sister and most gracious benefactor. I've been around long enough to know that money always talks."

Narfi turned to face his mother. "I cannot wait to marry Ilse. I have no doubt in my mind the years I have with her will be the happiest I will ever be."

"I have no doubt either," she agreed, placing the palm of her hand on the side of his face. "Ilse is very worthy of you and you have my blessing, always."

"I love you, mother."

"I love you, too, my son." Giving his face a playful pat, Sigyn leaned up and gestured for him to leave. "Go get some semblance of rest. You want to be fresh-faced when you meet with Ilse's father in the morning."

Narfi obliged and sat up, sliding down off the bed. "You think I should go that soon?"

Sigyn smirked. "Ilse's not getting any younger."

"Oh, ha- _ha_ ," he replied with a snicker to follow.

"Off to bed with you."

 

* * *

 

After only a few hours of sleep, Sigyn was up and ready for the day. The rest of the household, Narfi excluded, was still asleep while the servants bustled around, cleaning up after the birthday festivities and preparing food to be served when the family chose to wake up. Sigyn waited downstairs at the bottom of the stairwell, pulling gloves onto her hands as she waited for Narfi to join her. He was down within minutes, and had a slight skip in his step. He was still riding high from the night before that he hadn't slept at all and simply owed his liveliness to the love and hope he was feeling.

They had taken two horses down into the city and onward to Adlersflügel home where they were greeted by a servant who showed them in and had them wait in one of the downstairs room while Johann Adlersflügel was fetched. Fortunately he was awake already and they were barging in too unannounced. He seemed very polite and even happy to see Narfi and asked a different servant to fetch some wine and some cheeses for his guests.

After the initial small talk, Narfi got to the heart of the matter and stated his intentions; how he loved Ilse with every fiber of his being and how she felt the same about him and desired to make her his bride, but wanted Johann's blessing first. Sigyn never had to offer her assist in sweetening the pot, as she had mentioned to Narfi. Johann was familiar enough with Sigyn and knew there was considerable wealth there, plus the connection to the city's main ruling family. One of the stories that had purposely spread was that they were descended from Herr Ludwig von Himmel, who had previous reigned supreme from the castle and left it to the Thornley line when his last biological heir had died young. Of course this was all truth that was simply altered to fit their present circumstance.

"I know you are a good man with undeniable worth and would make my Ilse very happy. Unfortunately, she would come with a very small dowry, as I have other daughters whose future marriages I must consider," Johann spoke honestly.

Narfi smirked. "A dowry is unnecessary, Herr Adlersflügel. I can assure your daughter will have need of nothing."

Sigyn nodded and piped up. "I will second that. What's mine is my brother's. Everything I have he will inherit upon my death and I will see to it they have an affluent life together while I live."

"I have only one issue," Johann spoke, warily. "And that is of a home. You currently live with Ludwig's family. Do you expect Ilse to live there with you or will you provide her a home of her own that she may be the lady of?"

"We have a chateau in France where we previously lived before coming here to stay," Sigyn said. "We also own several other homes here and there. You and your family would be more than welcome to visit us in time, should a marriage between my brother and Ilse take place."

"So, the visit is conditional on a marriage," Johann chuckled. He nodded and took a sip of wine from the cup that had been sat on the small table beside his chair. "Very well. I see no need to drag this dialogue out any longer." He leaned forward and offered a hand to Narfi. "Son, you have my blessing to marry my daughter, Ilse. I have no doubt in my mind you will make her happy and afford her a life she is worth."

"Oh, I will," Narfi assured, giving Johann a firm handshake; careful not to hurt his future, human father-in-law. "And I will love her until I take my very last breath."

 

* * *

 

Later on in the day, Sigyn and Narfi were back at the castle, puttering around as the family was finally waking up. Sigyn had gone up to her room to catnap a little and advised Narfi do that same. Just because they were Asgardian didn't mean they were completely impervious to sleep deprivation. Narfi promised he would turn in early that night, but he was just too ecstatic to sleep anytime soon. He went off toward the kitchen and bantered with the cooks, snagging a few apples to eat and juggling them with the greatest of ease as he left the cooks to get back to their work.

As he made his way out to the courtyard to enjoy the sun, Oscar appeared and asked what had Narfi so chipper. When Narfi explained his good news, that he and Ilse had become officially betrothed, Oscar was all smiles and congratulatory. They embraced as friends and then continued on their separate ways; Narfi to the stables to brush his horse's mane and Oscar to go read in the Great Hall.

On Oscar's way, he passed Frederick, who was terribly hungover and who bumped roughly into his younger brother without so much of an apology.

"Watch where you're going, you twit."

Oscar rolled his eyes and was about to keep on walking when he stopped and spun around to look at his brother. "Have you heard the great news?"

Frederick sighed heavily, as if he had just been asked to perform an excruciating task, and eyed Oscar with little to no real interest. "What good news?"

"About Narfi and Ilse."

This piqued Frederick's attention. "What about them?" he asked, stepping slowly toward his brother in somewhat of a menacing way.

Oscar noted his Frederick's demeanor and felt wary about answering, but knew withholding the information could exacerbate matters and he really didn't want to receive the brunt of his older brother's temper. "They've become engaged to be married just this morning. Narfi asked Herr Adlersflügel for Ilse's hand and he consented. A wedding is the near future, I suspect."

Frederick sneered; his face turning a shade of red from anger and jealousy as he suddenly shoved his brother out of the way. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Frederick," Oscar pleaded. "Do not be like this. Narfi is your friend. You should be happy for him."

"Know your place, little brother," Frederick growled. Stomping around like an irritated bull, he began to bellow for Narfi. A passing servant, startled out of their wits by their young master, informed him that Narfi was in the stables.

Storming off, Frederick went first to the armory and grabbed two short swords before walking back out and making his way to the stables.

"Narfi," he bellowed once more, knowing the other man would hear him at this closer distance.

Narfi looked over his shoulder, and smiled curiously at his approaching friend, but his smile fade when he saw the rage in Frederick's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"You have betrayed me."

"How exactly have I done that?" Narfi stopped brushing his horse's mane and tossed the brush onto a small, nearby table.

"You know very well what you have done."

"I really don't."

"You have taken Ilse from me," Frederick spat. "She was _mine_. I was going to make her my bride. You can have your pick of any woman, from here to eternity, and you took _her_."

"First of all, she is not an object to be owned," Narfi clarified, holding his hands up in peace. "Second, we love each other. She was never yours to begin with. She has chosen to marry me as much as I have chosen to marry her. It was a mutual agreement because she and I love each other, and her father happens to agree it will be a prosperous marriage and has given is expressed blessing. There is nothing for you to lay claim to." Narfi began to turn away, to grab up the brush once more to continue tending to his horse. "You are disillusioned if you think you do."

"Do not turn your back on me when I am talking to you!" Frederick shouted.

Impulsively, he lashed out and stabbed one of the two short swords in his hands into the neck of Narfi's horse. The horse immediately groaned as its warm blood bubbled forth and spilled out onto its coat. Its legs buckled from the sudden blood loss and began to keel over just as Narfi jumped back, startled.

"Frederick, what have you done?" Narfi cried. "You have gone made with this jealousy of yours." He moved around to the other side of his horse and helped it lay down instead of fall down. He pressed his large hand against its deep wound, but knowing it would be all in vain. Frederick's gesture had been fatal to the steed.

"You will look at me when I talk to you."

"You are insane, Frederick. Your jealousy had made you lose your sense. How could you do this? How could you kill this defenseless animal in such a foolish rage?"

Frederick pursed his lips firmly together. Gripping the hilts of the swords tighter in his hands, he kicked out a leg as Narfi and tried to knock him back, but the Asgardian was much stronger and hard to cause to falter in his stance. His nostrils flaring, Frederick released his grip on one of the swords and tossed it at Narfi.

"Fight me for Ilse."

"Wh-what?" Narfi stammered. "No, I will not fight you for her, Frederick."

Without missing a beat, Frederick sliced his sword at the side of Narfi's face, drawing blood. Narfi brought his hand to his cheek and when he saw the blood on his fingers, he glared back up at Frederick and instantly grabbed up at the extra sword after making sure to lay his horse's head gently down to the ground.

Not that the gesture would matter. The horse had bled out too quickly and was already dead.

Jumping up to his feet with the litheness of a cat, Narfi gripped his sword and stood there, eyeing up Frederick as he balled his free hand into a fist as a few droplets of blood continue to roll down his face and into his beard where they got caught.

"I do not want to fight you, Frederick, but I will defend myself."

Frederick smirked almost evilly. "I always knew our friendship would never last."

"That is not my fault, is it?"

"Oh, I think it is. You come into my home, eat my food and take my family's hospitality for granted these last five years and then have the audacity to betroth yourself to the woman you knew I loved."

"Let us not forget that if it wasn't for my grandfather faking his death so long, your family wouldn't own this estate. If it wasn't for my mother bringing your ancestors here in search of my grandfather, you would not have been born."

"Trifling details."

"And, again, I did not take Ilse from you," Narfi spat. "You knew I loved her as well. Do not deny it."

Instead of initially answering, Frederick thrust at Narfi once more, but the latter easily parried. "Fight me for her."

Narfi sidestepped, assessing the situation, but Frederick merely mimicked him and wasted no time in striking yet again. Narfi continued to block each blow as the pair entered into a full on sword fight with each other that began to lead out of the stables and into the inner bailey of the castle. Frederick had to exert more energy but seemed the most desperate to win this so-called fight that he pulled out all the stops. Narfi had learned how to fight from both his mother and his grandfather, both trained for battle. Frederick had no such training of his own, but what he lacked in expertise, he made up for with gusto and instinct. However the reason he was still alive and managed not to sustain any injuries was because Narfi was doing all he could to avoid delivering any blows, despite the fact that Frederick quite literally just murdered his horse out of spite.

The fight didn't last long. Narfi quickly grew tired of the pretense of it and, without any difficultly, finally knocked Frederick's sword from his hand and stepped on it; holding it down with his foot so that the Frederick couldn't pick it back up right away.

"Enough," Narfi bellowed. "Stop this foolishness. We are supposed to be friends," he beseeched. "I will forgive you for killing my horse if you swear to me you will stop this petty and sudden need for vengeance against me. And, for good measure, apologize."

Frederick hesitated. Narfi had the tip of his own sword pointed at Frederick's throat but had no intention of running his friend through. Frederick opened his mouth to say something, but Narfi tutted at him.

"Choose your words wisely, dear friend."

Frederick huffed angrily, and then sighed; giving in. "Very well," he spoke, with no remorse in his voice whatsoever. "I am sorry for killing your horse."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What else are you sorry for?"

Frederick sneered. "I am sorry for not being happy for you and…" he trailed, not knowing what else to say.

"That's good enough," Narfi stated. He leaned down and stepped off Frederick's sword, handing it back. "I forgive you." He began to step back. "I will leave it up to you to explain to your father what happened to my horse, and I expect you to purchase a new one for me."

Narfi smirked, despite what had just transpired. He turned his back to Frederick and walked back into the stables, setting his sword down on the hey as he knelt down beside his dead horse, moving some hay around to better soak up the spilled blood.

From out in the inner bailey, Frederick shook with anger still boiling in him. He had always been a sore loser, in no matter what he did. He looked down at the sword in his hands and stood back up, gripping it tighter than before. With the stealth he had not previously known, he sauntered into the stables to stand behind Narfi and held the hilt with both hands above the Asgardian.

"I do not need your forgiveness," he growled, bringing the sword down as hard and quick as he could muster and piercing Narfi through his back, just under his left shoulder blade.

Narfi cried out in sheer agony and dropped forward on his hands and knees.

The blade had gone straight through his body, penetrating his heart.

Frederick didn't have the blade pulled back out yet when he heard the heart wrenching scream behind him. Removing the sword swiftly caused another gasp of pain from Narfi as Frederick spun around to see Sigyn standing out in the inner bailey, and approaching him with a fury he had never seen. He seemed to have come somewhat to his senses then and would've dropped the sword to the ground if he hadn't been too frightened of the wild look in Sigyn's eyes.

" _What have you done_?" she screamed. " _WHAT HAVE YOU DONE_?!"

Sigyn was shaking so very hard as she ran at Frederick without the slightest hint of hesitation. Instinct and rage took over. She grabbed him by the throat with one hand and snatched his sword away with her other. Lifting him a good two feet off the ground and watching as he gasped for air, she growled at him like a beast, baring her teeth as if she was about to devoir him.

"I…I…" he gasped.

"You're what?" she questioned. "Sorry?" Releasing her grip, she dropped him to his feet, but his knees buckled and he dropped back onto his ass. "Don't move an inch."

Turning her back on him momentarily, Sigyn quickly rushed to her son's aid, turning him over so that his head was resting in her lap as she inspected his wound. She could feel the warmth of his blood soaking through onto the skirt of her dress from the entry wound in his back while she pressed her hands down onto the exit wound on his chest.

"No," she muttered.

"Mother," Narfi spluttered, blood spilling out of his mouth and down the sides of his face. "Tell…" he trailed, gasping for further breath. "Tell Ilse…I loved her…till my last…"

"Shh, no," Sigyn tried to soothe her son. "Say no such things. This is a superficial injury. You are an Asgardian; you will recover in no time."

"No, mother," he chided. "Not even…not even an Asgardian…can survive this."

"No…"

"It was a fatal blow." A bubble of bloody spit appeared at his mouth as he choked. Narfi tried looking down at his wound but no longer had the energy to even crane his neck. Instead he peered up at his mother whose tears were beginning to fall down her face in rapid succession. "Mother?"

"Yes, my darling boy?"

"Will I go to Valhalla?" he asked. His eyes looked scared and childlike and were slowly glazing over. "The stories y-you told me, as a child…" he continued, his breathing labored, as he fought for more time. "Fallen warriors go to Valhalla…"

Sigyn's chin quivered and she smiled for him through her tears. She would make her son's passing as easy as possible. "Yes, Narfi Lokison, my firstborn and prince of Asgard, you will go to Valhalla where you will see your ancestors and be greeted with a hero's welcome." She brushed hair from his face and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Close your eyes. Can you see it? Can you see Valhalla ahead of you? Is it not beautiful?"

Narfi closed his eyes and began to smile, blood still trickling from his mouth, but the rate at which it was doing so had considerably slowed. "Yes, mother, I can see it."

"Go toward it without hesitation. Be strong, my son, and do not forget how much I love you."

Narfi's smile began to fade as his life drained away and his body began to still. "I will…never…"

And, then, that was it.

Narfi was gone.

There were a few moments where Sigyn just remained kneeling there with her dead son in her lap, crying over him. However, remembering why he was dead soon came back to the foreground of her mind.

Gently, she moved Narfi's head and set his body down to lie in the straw beside the dead horse. She took a few seconds to gather herself before standing up, looking down at the blood on her hands and dress.

Narfi's blood.

Slowly, she brought her gaze up and out toward the inner bailey where Frederick still sat, scared out of his mind.

"I'm sorry, Sigyn. I am so sorry," he pleaded, holding his hands up as a sort of surrender and maybe a show of good faith.

She crouched down, picking up the bloodied sword and then standing back upright once more. She held the hilt tightly enough that she could've snapped it in half if she so chose. With an eerie casualness, she stalked forward, like a lioness sizing up its prey.

"You killed my son," she said with evenness in her tone as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "He was all I had left of my husband; the only good thing left in my life on this wretched world."

"I'm sorry," Frederick pleaded once more, putting his hands together as if in prayer.

Sigyn stood in front of him staring down at him with hell in her eyes. Her upper lip twitched as if she wanted to unhinge her jaw and rip his face off with her teeth like a wild beast. Instead she reached her free hand out and grabbed a hold of his hair, holding his head up straight.

"Sorry doesn't bring my son back, does it? Are you a necromancer with the power to bring the dead back to life?" Frederick was too frightened to respond. He just shook his head slightly. "Thought so."

Without further hesitation, Sigyn lifted her right hand, which was holding the short sword, and brought it swiftly down at Frederick, severing his head from his body in one fell move. Her right hand, which was still gripping his hair, now held his head while the rest of him remained upright for a moment, spluttering blood from his neck before slumping with a hefty thud to the ground.

"Apology not accepted," she spoke, watching as the blood spilled from Frederick's neck.

She walked off, holding his head in one hand and the short sword still in the other, as she reentered the castle. Servants screamed as they saw her and darted out of her way. She made her way into the Grand Hall where she figured the family was gathering; probably assuming they were under attack judging by the screams that had been going on and she was right.

Sigyn kicked open the doors and stalked inside where she found Ludwig and Theresa crowded around the furthest end of the table away from the doors with Oscar near them. When they saw Frederick's head in her hands, Theresa screamed and then fainted while Ludwig cried out in agony.

"What have you done to my son?"

"He murdered my unarmed son in the stables," she replied; emotion stripped from her voice. Sigyn then tossed the head onto the table, watching as it rolled and splattered blood on the wooden surface. "I returned the favor."

"I will have your head for this, Sigyn. If you run, I will hunt you down."

"You can certainly try."

She turned without another word and walked out of the Great Hall. Making her way upstairs to her room, the only thing she grabbed was a satchel in which she put her much beloved journal. Casually, she turned and retreated from the room; the short sword still in hand as she made her way back down stairs almost as if she was gliding on air. She could barely recall her feet ever touching the ground.

Ludwig appeared in the doorway of the Great Hall with his own sword in hand, ready to strike, but Sigyn merely mustered up some magic and blasted him back. Before exiting the castle, she grabbed a torch off the wall and set some drapery on fire. Out in the inner bailey she stalked off with her satchel hanging off her shoulder. Castle guards began to come at her and she easily slit their throats or pierced them through the hearts if she didn't merely blast them away like she did Ludwig. She made a beeline for the stables, stepping over Frederick's headless corpse. Sigyn untied her horse, which made no move to flee from her, and then crouched down to lift Narfi's body up into her arms and drape him over the horse. She then placed its bridle on before jumping up to sit on its back and steadying her son's body.

Snapping the reins, the horse set off as she directed it out of the castle gates, which she blasted open, having secured the sword by sheathing it in her satchel. They tore down the hillside, the trees a blur on either side of them while the fire in the castle interior quickly began to spread.

Sigyn never looked back.

This place was as dead to her now as Narfi was.

Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned.


	22. Though I Wander The Earth

* * *

 

Because of Sigyn's decision never to look back, she never knew whether or not Ludwig, Theresa and Oscar perished in the fire she had set or not. More importantly, she just didn't care. She was lost in a complete daze as she traveled continuously away from Nagold, through the Black Forest, with no desire to stop, despite her horse's protestations from exhaustion and the weight of Sigyn plus Narfi's dead body weight. By the time she had reached the Alps, the horse finally collapsed. She had ridden him so long and hard without break that his heart gave out. Abandoning the animal on the snowy mountain pass, Sigyn lifted her son into her arms and carried him down the mountain the rest of the way, stopping on a few times over the course of several days.

She soon came upon the outskirts of a small Italian village near the base of the mountain range where she knew she had to stop. She couldn't carry Narfi around like this anymore. He deserved the respect of a funeral, and even though she wanted to give him the Asgardian funeral he was worthy of, she couldn't bring herself to burn his body upon a pyre of any sort.

In a quiet pasture, that was as beautiful as any, Sigyn laid her son down. With her bare hands, she dug a hole in the ground the length of Narfi's body and about four feet deep. The entire time she took on this task, all alone, she never once made a sound. No sobs came from her lips; no tears fell from her eyes. She was going through the motions; as dead inside as her son was and forever would be.

Standing in his grave, she pulled his body down into it and rested him gently within, crossing his arms over his chest. The ring her father had given her, centuries ago before his banishment, she took off her finger and kissed it. Her fingers were much narrower than Narfi's so the only place she could place it on him that would fit was his little finger. She chose the one on his left hand. Standing over him, Sigyn brushed some dirt from his face, which was pointless since she was about to cover him up with it, and then smoothed out his hair.

"Beautiful boy," she murmured.

Casting her eyes away, Sigyn pulled herself out of the grave and crawled momentarily on her hands and knees. Upon standing up, she crouched slightly to begin to push the dirt back into the grave, covering her son until the dirt was somewhat level with the ground around the grave. Because his body was underneath it all, there was now a considerable mound which she chose to cover further with several rocks and stone. She removed the sword which had taken Narfi's life as well as Fredericks and sheathed it into the rocks.

Sigyn stood there, just staring for what seemed like forever before she decided to lie down beside the grave, and that's where she remained, unmoved, for three days and three nights.

On the third night, she finally gave into sleep and awoke on the fourth morning, as rested as she could be in her situation. She stood up and leaned forward, kissing one of the stones and let her hands linger there for several moments.

"Goodbye, my son."

In the weeks that followed, she wandered west into France and then south into Spain, with no plan on where she was going. She let her feet make the decisions and stopped thinking about anything. She became like a ghost in her own life, barely there; a shell of whom she had been. Her grief has consumed her so much at this point she could barely remember who she was or where she was. She lost track of so much time and it wasn't until she found herself reaching Gibraltar that she stopped moving. She stared out over the Strait, across to Africa, a land she had yet to explore, but felt it wasn't the right time to. She turned around, looking up at the Rock of Gibraltar and made her way back north through Spain.

She didn't want to be alone anymore at this point but the only person worthy of being in her presence was her father, and she him to still be in Scotland. And, in this moment in her life, a daughter needed her father more than ever.

Sigyn didn't rush going to him, however; she took her time, eventually making her way to the Highlands. She first made a stop just outside Aberfeldy, the town nearest to where Astrid's home had been. She found the home to be gone, though. Well, technically it still existed but it was merely the bones of the structure. From a century of neglect it had fallen into shambles, and felt almost like an open grave. Beyond it, on the incline behind the home, there still stood the large stone Narfi had placed between the trees where Sigyn knew Thomas Thornley to be buried and where she had buried part of James' ashes. The names were still legible, if only slightly faded from the elements.

Astrid had once told her that Thomas had been born here, just as Astrid's children had. It was the place the Scotswoman had kept as her home even after being widowed that first time. But it, too, was where Sigyn's son was born. It was where he drew his first breath and learned to take a few first steps before they left it in search of Lodur. This had been his home, too, and Sigyn felt his name belonged on the rock.

She no longer had the chisel with her as she had then, but she found a strong rock nearby that felt sturdy and unbreakable in her hands that could do the trick of engraving with enough force.

Below James' name, Sigyn carved that name of Narfi Lokison.

Giving the stone a once over upon finishing, and seeming pleased with it, she closed her eyes briefly and turned away, heading further north to reach her father.

She found in a day and a half's time, living in a small house outside Inverness.

The house lay beside the River Nairn, which began at the Monadhliath Mountains and flowed northeast to enter the Moray Firth at Nairn. There was a herd of sheep grazing nearby as she approached the home. She could see her father hammering something together with his tools at his disposal. He must have heard her soft footsteps, and sensed it was her, because Lodur turned around and looked upon her with a large smile. However, the smile faded when he saw the state she was in. Setting down his tools, he wiped his hands on his trousers and walked forward to meet her halfway.

"Sigyn, my daughter, are you alright? You are covered in blood." He took her hands in his and held her at arm's length to proper inspect her.

"I am?" She looked down at the front of her dress, which she hadn't bothered to change out of since Narfi's death. "Oh, yes. I suppose I am," she replied solemnly.

Lodur felt there was more amiss than just the blood on her dress or the fact that it looked as if she hadn't bathed in years. Her face offered no emotion and her eyes looked dead. He looked past her, scanning the near vicinity, narrowing his gaze.

"Where is Narfi?"

Sigyn took her right hand back and placed it upon her dress. "Part of him is here."

Lodur grew worried very quickly. "Is that his blood?"

"Most of it," she nodded.

"Sigyn…what happened?"

Her eyes focused on the grass at their feet for a few moments before she looked her father in the face. "My son is gone," she answered, weakly. "Taken."

"Taken where?"

"To Valhalla, I hope." She looked away again.

Lodur's breath hitched as he covered his mouth with his hand. "Narfi is dead?"

Slowly, Sigyn nodded. "Yes." She then clarified, "Murdered."

"By whom?"

"Frederick."

"Ludwig's boy?" Off Sigyn's second nod, Lodur looked back down at her dress and pointed. "Is some of that blood Frederick's?"

Sigyn began to grin, but it was halfhearted. "Yes." She brought her eyes back up to look back at her father once more. "Narfi was defenseless, had his back turned. Frederick pierced him through the heart from behind like a coward." Her rage began to return as she recalled the terrible memory. She could feel it burning under her skin, bubbling like hot oil in her veins, and she was visibly starting to shake. "My son died in my arms, father."

A part of Lodur was shocked by what she was telling him and wary of what he knew she was alluding to, in regard to what he expected she did to Frederick. However, Narfi was his grandson, of his blood which now stained his daughter's dress like a sigil, and he loved his grandson with all his heart. However Sigyn had chosen to punish Frederick, Lodur was in no position to question it and stood behind it, even if he had always chosen peace over war.

"Oh, Sigyn, my beautiful girl, I am so terribly sorry." Tears stung his eyes as he pulled his daughter into a tight embrace, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Has Narfi been laid to rest?"

"The horse carrying us died, so I carried my son over the Alps and buried him in a pasture on the south side of the mountains, in Italy. His grave is covered with dirt and piled with stones and I lodged the sword that took his life amidst the stone." Sigyn leaned into her father's embrace and seemed to loosen up a bit. "I couldn't burn him, I couldn't give him the Asgardian funeral he deserved, father."

"It doesn't matter how he was laid to rest. That is all but symbolic gestures. His body is gone but it is soul and his spirit that is important now," Lodur assured. "He was a good boy who became an honorable man. He was strong and he was kind and he was loved. He is at peace."

"But he belongs in Valhalla," Sigyn cried out slightly.

"And that is where he shall be if Odin knows what's good for him."

Sigyn leaned back and looked up at her father. "Do you think Odin would deny him entrance? He denied him any return to Asgard. How are we to be sure the All-Father hasn't been continuously cruel?"

"We cannot know, unfortunately. We can only hope."

Hope didn't soothe Sigyn's soul or heal her broken heart, though.

Lodur brought her inside of his home where he poured her some ale to drink and to give her some leftover stew he had in a pot; a gesture that reminded her of her first time she met Astrid and her children. Lodur could tell she had barely eaten anything in weeks most likely and he just needed to take care of her right now. She had been hungry but she couldn't really bother to eat much. There was a lower bedroom where he slept and an upper bedroom in a loft above that overlooked the main living space. Lodur had built the home himself and was very pleased with how it had turned out. It had taken him a few weeks to do on his own, and slept most nights outside in the grass until the walls were up and there was a roof. Originally the plan was to build on larger home with three separate bedrooms that came together in the center where the living space and kitchen was supposed to be, but his involvement in local warring over the last decade had nixed those plans.

In the months that followed Sigyn's arrival to his Scottish homestead, Lodur watched her make attempts to come out of her grievous cocoon, but nothing seemed to do the trick. She slept during most days while he was outside living the life of simple man, tending to his garden and his sheep or occasionally traveling into Inverness for supplies. On such travels, he walked along, talking aloud, asking Heimdall to speak to Odin and take Sigyn back.

She had lost so much and been away long enough; and as her father, he only wanted the best for her. And the best for her was to be away from this world and instead where she belonged, and that was with Loki. Lodur could tell that his Jotun-born nephew was the only one who would ever be able to really get through and make Sigyn feel whole again.

Nighttime is when it seemed Sigyn got up and moved around. She passed most of her time outside, lying on the ground and looking up at the stars. A few times Lodur joined her, but said nothing, unless she spoke first. He couldn't force her to come out of the emotional shell she'd built to protect herself from feeling. It had to be when she was ready; it had to be her choice only.

At times she did show signs of her old self, smiling at something her father said or did. She spoke more as the years passed, but she could never actually be bothered with having long conversations, even if it was her father.

The two of them stayed tucked away in that home for thirty years before Lodur stated they would have to move on. He asked her where she wanted to go, and she responded that she didn't care and let him choose the destination. So, Lodur decided they needed a change of pace, someplace warmer. While traveling south down the British continent, Sigyn mentioned it was when she reached Gibraltar that she had decided to turn back and find her father and how Africa was a place she would probably like to travel to someday. Lodur decided for both of them that they would go there.

They didn't settle down anywhere for a number of years; simply choosing to travel the African continent. First they arrived to Tangiers, then to Cairo, down to Nairobi, then deep into the Congo. While they saw new animals not found on the European continent and met new tribes of people, France and England began the series of conflicts that would become known as the Hundred Years' War, and soon the "Black Death" arrived in Europe, claiming the lives of around twenty-five million people. All this went unbeknownst to Sigyn and Lodur though as she they had detached themselves from that part of the world for the better part of seventy years.

A few years before the beginning of the 15th century, Sigyn had been able to push her grief somewhat to the side. However, due to constantly being at her father's side, she was reminded day in and day out that coming to Midgard to find him was one of the leading causes for losing her son. Perhaps her mind had fractured a bit in her thinking when she began to blame her father being a contributing factor for Narfi's death.

To Sigyn, after all, if Lodur hadn't have been banished, she would've never had the need to find him. If she hadn't have gone to find him, she was still be in Asgard with Loki where her son would've been born and they would be living happily together as a family, possibly with more children, in an estate of their own.

After a grievous episode where she was thinking on her losses yet again, Sigyn snapped and started an argument with her father and said she needed to be away from him for a time. When she found some peace in herself again, she would search him out once more.

Sigyn departed from her father's side in 1397 while they were in Djibouti. She traveled by boat across the Gulf of Aden and out into the Arabian Sea before reaching the Indian coastline and making harbor in Mumbai. Lodur had chosen to return back north to Europe, but where exactly was beyond Sigyn's knowledge.

She traveled long and hard, winding her way through India and then up through China and into Mongolian territory, seeing new cultures and enjoying how lost she felt in it all. She watched as all these civilizations expanded and populations grew. Eventually she made her way through Russia during the rule of Ivan the Great as the country's first czar. Nevertheless, despite all the changes to the world over time, one thing always remained the same. The humans were constantly going to war with each other; from large, full-scale, military engagements down to the pettiest of reasons such as two farmers feuding over a goat. It felt as if they held no value to their lives.

She walked through several battlefields, stepping through the muck and blood soaked earth as men lay dead where they fell. She witnessed the surviving soldiers as they dug mass graves for all their men and tossed them in. Thousands and thousands of lives were gone; all without honor because there was no honor in death. You could only achieve that by living.

By the beginning of the 16th century, Sigyn had made her way back to Europe, settling outside Paris, living in virtual seclusion for a few decades. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, spending her days looming (which she had learned from Ludwig Thornley's wife Theresa more than two hundred centuries earlier) and practicing magic once again after not bothering to do so for quite a long time. However, it wasn't too long before the simple life grew dull. It was the same thing day in and day out and she needed a change of pace. When remaining stationary for too long, she was left with her thoughts and when she was left with her thoughts, all her loss and loneliness reared its ugly head again and she found herself wallowing in a pit of despair and taking the waking anger out on innocent furniture. After all but destroying her French country home, following another moment of grief and rage began to swallow her hole, Sigyn came to the decision that she had to keep moving once again. If she didn't, she felt as if she would turn to stone.

In 1533, in passing in the English countryside, Sigyn discovered a young woman whom she resembled a great deal. The carriage the young woman had been traveling in was overturned and she lay dying. Seeing the young girl in pain, Sigyn used her magic to ease the pain of death. When the horseman came to, as he had been knocked unconscious from the accident, he was horrified to find that his mistress was dead and began to fear retribution from her family. Feeling sympathy for the man, Sigyn assured him no such retribution would happen as long as he listened very carefully to her, which he did, despite being considerably unnerved upon realizing the uncanny resemblance between Sigyn and his mistress, whose name was apparently Susan White. Sigyn told him they would bury Susan's body in the woods and that she would assume Susan's life and all would be fine. While they waited for help, she had the horseman tell her everything she needed to know about Susan and her family.

Susan, it would appear, had previously been a lady in waiting for Princess Mary when Mary was sent to the Welsh Marches as heiress presumptive. Though, Susan lost her position when Mary's household was dissolved after her refusal to acknowledge Anne Boleyn as her father's wife. Susan was also betrothed in marriage to man named Thomas Tonge, which Sigyn wondered how she would deal with that. Maybe she could somehow enter his mind and control him or destroy the engagement.

Eventually Sigyn, as Susan, and the horseman were "rescued" by an approaching convoy of soldiers acting on official business of the king. They assisted Sigyn and the horseman and repaired the broken wheel on the overturned carriage which they righted. Soon, Sigyn was off. She was brought "home" to her "family", prepared for them to know at once she was an imposter, and then just easily flee and wander the earth some more, to parts yet unknown. However, it seemed no one noticed the difference. Susan's parents and siblings couldn't tell that Sigyn was not their daughter and sister and had no clue the real Susan was, in fact, dead from the injuries she sustained in the carriage accident. When she was to go meet with Thomas Tonge before the supposed marriage, she pleasantly assumed he would be none the wiser, just as Susan's family had been.

What Sigyn did not know was that Thomas had apparently met the real Susan before and seemed to be the only one to realize she was different, which turned out to be fine. He made no spectacle of it before the marriage ceremony and asked no questions. He simply promised not to blow her secret if she could keep his: that he preferred men.

So, Sigyn entered into a sham marriage with a human man to keep the secrets at bay.

They made a home together, but did not live together as man and wife. They had separate bed chambers and always slept apart, but she made enough of a friend in him that she felt comfortable admitting to him what happened to the real Susan. The information he took well and accepted all the same. In his eyes, the past was the past. As long as the pretenses remained, they could live their lives as they so choose and turn a blind eye to the other's dealings or dalliances; especially Thomas' visits from his "favorite friend" Arthur. What was amusing to Sigyn was that she began receiving official letters from Princess Mary, who had recently been deemed illegitimate and stylized as The Lady Mary, instead. Lady Mary had apparently still thought of the original Susan as a friend and wished to stay in touch so Sigyn took it upon herself to start writing back; initially out of curiosity and a way to entertain herself, but then soon found she was growing to care for the young woman.

The following year, Thomas became Clarenceux King of Arms. Because of this, Sigyn (as Susan) became known as Susan Clarencius and found she was being invited, on occasion to the court of Henry VIII, where she met the king and his wife, the queen, Anne Boleyn. There was something about the royal couple that put Sigyn off, but her own past as a princess in Asgard meant she knew how to be respectful and charming in the eyes of a monarch.

Less than two years later, in March 1536, Thomas died after a short illness and named Sigyn (as Susan) his sole executor and left her the remainder of his estate. Despite the briefness of his tenure as Clarenceux King of Arms, Sigyn (as Susan) continued to be known as Susan Clarencius. In a matter of months, the life of solitude Sigyn thought she was going to live following Thomas' death was interrupted by the beheading of Anne Boleyn and Lady Mary returning into her father's favor. Sigyn (as Susan) was called upon to rejoin Lady Mary's household.

Sigyn left behind the home she'd been living in until that point. When she came to Lady Mary, the twenty-year-old princess was over the moon with happiness to see her friend and Sigyn felt herself starting to feel the same sense of joy.

Lady Mary was a staunch believer in her Catholic faith, which Sigyn didn't share in because of who she was, but admired Lady Mary for her unwavering spirit even when the king sent people on his behalf to deter his daughter. The life Lady Mary wanted to live for herself was constantly being pushed to the side and ignored or denied altogether. She wanted to openly practice her religion, to marry and have children. It was up to her father to make a match for her and it all seemed to fall through for the young woman, who put on a brave face at court while the only mothering she got to do, in a sense, was by looking after her younger half-sister Elizabeth, whose birth had originally deemed Lady Mary illegitimate. Soon came Lady Mary's half-brother Edward, born of the new queen Jane Seymour; finally a son for the king whom Sigyn thought to be more of a tyrant than anything at all.

Sigyn had witnessed his gruff moods on more than one occasion, standing off to the sidelines of court as Lady Mary's. Only once did she ever endure him one on one.

It was during the late evening hours of Christmas Eve, after the bulk of festivities had transpired. Sigyn had gone outside to watch as the snow fell while thinking solemnly about Loki and Narfi, wondering how her father was doing, and the Christmases she had enjoyed with Astrid and her children nearly four hundred years ago.

"It is quiet out here, unlike inside," came the deep, regal voice of the English sovereign as he approached.

"It would appear so, Your Majesty."

Sigyn looked over her shoulder and made eye contact with him, and then remembered she was playing the part of no more than a servant and friend of his daughter, so she cast her eyes down out of respect, even if she didn't believe he deserved it.

He was like Earth's Odin.

Henry must've noticed the displeasure and defiance in her eyes for those brief moments she held his gaze. He moved to stand beside her, clasping his hands together behind his back and then turning to gaze upon her again. She looked at him as well and noted sadness in his eyes; for a moment disregarding how she normally felt about him. He had, after all, just become widowed exactly two months before. Despite it being Christmas and a joyful holiday throughout the European continent, he wore black as a symbol of his mourning period.

"Was your marriage to Thomas a happy one?" he asked, seemingly out of the blue.

For a minute, Sigyn had forgotten she had married Thomas, because it had all been an act. It had only been a means to an end.

"As far as marriages go, it was decent."

"Your marriage produced no children."

"Children appear not to be in the stars for me anymore," Sigyn replied sadly.

"I apologize. That was intrusive." Then, "Would you ever consider remarriage?"

Sigyn looked up at the stars briefly, and thought only of Loki. "Not when I remain married to my first husband in my heart and soul."

Henry must've taken her response as meaning she spoke about Thomas. Obviously, there was no way to know she meant Loki, who was all but a myth to humans like him. "You are as constant in your vows as the northern star. Steadfast and true," the King remarked. "I find that most honorable and pleased my daughter has you as her chief lady-in-waiting."

Sigyn nodded her head graciously at him. "Thank you. She is an honorable woman to serve, whom I am happy to call my friend, and I hope one day she will get to know all the joys of marriage as I have."

And that was it.

That was their entire conversation. Sigyn excused herself after that, leaving the King with her last comment to perhaps mull over so he would start considering his eldest child's future for once and not just his own.

Over the course of the next nine years, Sigyn had subtly aged her physical appearance with magic only a little at a time to make the changes seem authentic, much like she had in the past in similar situations. Other changes included the King marrying three more times; briefly to Anne of Cleves, to Catherine Howard whom he had beheaded, and lastly to the wealthy widow Catherine Parr. Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth were both returned to the line of succession, as well. However, Lady Mary, now once more Princess Mary, was still unwed at twenty-nine years old, much to her displeasure. She confided her feelings in the matter to Sigyn (as Susan), sometimes crying herself to sleep. Sigyn would simply sit with her and let her rest her head in her lap, brushing her hand through her hair in a soothing manner.

By the end of January in that new year of 1547, the King had died and Prince Edward, at only nine years old, became King Edward VI, although he was too young to actually exercise power. Henry's will designated sixteen executors to serve on a council of regency until Edward reached the age of eighteen. The executors chose Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, Jane Seymour's eldest brother, to be Lord Protector of the Realm. If Edward left no heirs, the throne was to pass to Mary and her subsequent heirs. If Mary, too, failed to produce heirs, the crown was to go to Elizabeth and her heirs. Finally, if Elizabeth's line became extinct, the crown was to be inherited by the descendants of Henry VIII's deceased younger sister, Queen Mary of France, the Greys. The descendants of Henry's sister Margaret – the Stuarts, rulers of Scotland – were however excluded from succession.

During most of Edward's "reign", Princess Mary stayed away from court for the most part. She had inherited three estates and granted another two as her own. When she did attend a reunion for Christmas 1550 with her brother and sister Elizabeth, Sigyn watched as Edward embarrassed Mary, and reduced both her and himself to tears in front of the court, by publicly reproving her for ignoring his laws regarding worship. Mary repeatedly refused Edward's demands that she abandon Catholicism, and Edward repeatedly refused to drop his demands.

Sigyn assured Mary that Edward was young and impressionable and any opinions he had on the matter of religion were probably being fed to him by his uncles Edward and Howard Seymour, brothers of the late Queen Jane, Edward's mother. Sigyn knew schemes and tricks when she saw them and was able to convince Mary that the Seymours were more than likely not to be trusted in the long run, and if Mary needed to flee England, she (Sigyn, as Susan) would be there to assist.

Following Edward's death from lung disease three years later, at the age of fifteen, the crown was sneakily passed to Lady Jane Grey, in order to prevent Mary from inheriting the crown so she wouldn't undo all his Protestant reforms and reinstate Catholicism. It also meant denying Elizabeth her inheritance as well, because Edward couldn't disinherit one sister and not the other. However, this didn't last well and Lady Jane, who hadn't wanted the crown anyway, was executed in little over a week for taking the throne nonetheless.

The country seemed almost unanimously in favor of seeing Mary in her rightful place as Queen of the Realm, and got behind her figuratively and literally as she road into London with a procession of eight hundred nobles and gentlemen, which also included Princess Elizabeth and Sigyn, who remained at Mary's side.

Sigyn watched with pride as Mary soon ascended the throne. Sigyn (as Susan) was named Mistress of the Robes, which meant she was the senior lady of the British Royal Household and responsible for the Queen's clothes and jewelry.

During Mary's short reign, which lasted only five years, she married Prince Philip of Spain, suffered a few false pregnancies, while the country suffered famine due to many wet seasons which created flooding, and she saw herself become known as Bloody Mary for all the Protestants she saw persecuted.

Finally, Mary became weak from May to November of 1558, eventually dying. She was in pain in the end and Sigyn was glad to see her suffering come to an end. Although she had not agreed to Mary's way of handling the so-called "Protestant problem" in recent years, she still considered the queen her friend and was sad to see her go. Sigyn (as Susan) was present at Mary's funeral as one of her chief mourners.

During the service, John White, the Bishop of Winchester, praised Mary, saying, "She was a king's daughter; she was a king's sister; she was a king's wife. She was a queen, and by the same title a king also."

Sigyn remained quiet and shed no tears for Mary, despite their friendship which spanned slightly over twenty-two years. It had been an interesting experience for the Asgardian; to pretend to be a servant to a monarch, despite also being the best friend and confidant of one. It had been an interesting twenty plus years, and she had been present to see many changes in the country. She was proud to have called Mary her friend but now her tenure in the land had come to a close and decided the time to move on was nigh.

Princess Elizabeth had ascended the throne to become Queen Elizabeth I, so Sigyn left to retreat back to the home she had lived in during her sham marriage to Thomas. After Elizabeth's coronation a few months later in January of 1559, Sigyn briefly entertained another of Mary's former servants, Jane Dormer, the wife of Gomez Suarez de Figueroa of Cordova, 1st Duke of Feria, and a friend of Mary's husband Philip II of Spain. They spoke of moving on to Spain and Sigyn thought that sound like a good idea. By May, she had packed everything she wanted to bring with her and immigrated to Spain with Jane and Gomez. She stayed with them for a time; however, not long after, Sigyn departed again with considerably less than she had traveled to Spain from England with. She knew she couldn't keep up the guise of being Susan much longer. Trying to remember to maintain the illusion of appearing older than she was on a daily basis was exhausting and she needed to start over somewhere different where she didn't know anyone.

By the end of summer of 1559, "Susan" was never heard from again.

Sigyn, on the other hand, continued once more just as herself and it was a breath of fresh air. She retreated into seclusion in the Swiss Alps, occasionally traveling south into Italy every so often to visit her son's grave. The stones were still in place but the sword was gone. She assumed someone had traveled that route at some point over the last two hundred and fifty years and took it for themselves, and she no longer cared about the sword. As long as her son's grave was intact and not desecrated in any way, she felt at ease.

By the 1590s she had decided to return to England once more, traveling around dressed in peasant's clothes most of the time until 1603 when Queen Elizabeth died. Dressed considerably nicer, Sigyn made it to the funeral as one of the many spectators in the streets, seeing Elizabeth's coffin head to Westminster Abbey where Elizabeth was interred beside her sister Mary.

It was Sigyn's last gesture of friendship to Mary; to see her sister off.

Walking away from Elizabeth's funeral procession seemed harder on Sigyn than she would've thought. It drudged up old feelings of loss and regret. She no longer grieved for Astrid or her children. Their deaths had happened so long ago, but their place in her heart still remained, even if their faces seemed a little blurry around the edges in her memory. She wished she had been able to somehow pressure King Henry into looking out for Mary's future somewhat better. Perhaps Mary would've been able to get married earlier and become a mother after all, and lived a more happy life, and then maybe her reign might have been more enjoyable. Sigyn wished she would've cried at Mary's funeral, instead of holding it in to be resilient and resolute.

Mostly, she just wanted her son back.

He had been gone three hundred and three years by that point and most days it seemed like mere hours had passed. Sometimes the memory of losing him and taking her revenge out on Frederick seemed so fresh in her mind and she could feel her heart shattering again.

When these feelings took place within her over and over, she usually went dark; wallowing in her grief and then growing incredibly angry. Or, in the past, anyway, she had her father around to remind her of the good moments; to be there as her constant companion who was always good for a hug and listen to her thoughts.

Well, the darkness was starting to seep into her mind again.

She was lonely again and had no idea what to do with herself anymore.

The only thing that made sense was to find her father, whom she hadn't seen in two centuries.

It took a good ten years, give or take of searching the European continent, going back to her father's old haunts, before she found him, living in an apartment overlooking the Grand Canal in Venice. He had the doors open to his small balcony, with his hands gripping the balustrade, as the warm Italian sun beat down on his weathered face, and Sigyn was approaching from below in a small boat being rowed by a pleasant old man. The boat came to dock below the balcony and Sigyn peered up with a smirk.

Lodur had already noticed her approaching and smiled.

"The prodigal daughter returns," he called down with a laugh.

Sigyn rolled her eyes. "Stop that teasing at once or I shall have this man turn his boat around."

"Perish the thought. I have waited too long for you to find me again," he replied. "I have missed you terribly and we have a lot to catch up on, I believe."

"Oh, yes," she agreed, climbing out of the boat and taking what little belongings she had from the boatman. " _Grazie_ ," she muttered, handing him more than enough coin for his service.

She looked back up toward her father but saw he was no longer on the balcony. Moments later he appeared at the door before her, and ushered her into the narrow entryway. Before them, even narrower stairs led up to his apartment and he let her go ahead of him. When they reached the upper landing, she dropped her things onto a nearby table and turned into her father's waiting arms.

"It has been too long."

When they parted, Lodur gestured for her to join him in sitting down. "So," he began. "I believe it is customary for ladies to go first. Please, tell me of all your recent adventures, my dear girl."

"Well," Sigyn smirked, leaning back. "I spent twenty years as a lady-in-waiting and friend of Queen Mary of England."

"Did you now? Amazing," Lodur chuckled, and then pointed to himself. "But I think I have an experience that might just top yours."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"Try me."

"Three years after we went our separate ways," Lodur began, "I found my way back to Tønsberg. The house we shared with Narfi was still there, but someone else was living there, so I found a smaller home more in town but still private enough. Well, I was walking along the shoreline after some late fishing one night when a hole in the sky ripped open, and I saw a sight I hadn't seen in four hundred years by that point."

"What? What came out of the hole in the sky?"

"The Bifrost."

Sigyn leaned forward, sitting on the edge of her seat with hope suddenly gleaming in her eyes. "Was it Loki? Did Loki come to Earth?"

Lodur reached across and cupped his daughter's face briefly with his hand before dropping it back onto his lap. "No, my dear, it wasn't Loki." He watched her face fall, but she seemed to convalesce quickly enough.

"Who was it, then?"

"My brother, Odin."

"Truly?" She seemed doubtful, as if he were making jest.

"I swear on Narfi's soul," he replied solemnly. That was enough to make her believe her father wasn't kidding. "He was hiding the Tesseract. He believed someone of great power with dark intentions was after it and felt it wouldn't be safe on Asgard. He felt this world would be the last place anyone would care to look."

"You spoke to Odin."

"I did, yes."

"Did he say anything about me, or Loki? Did you tell him about Narfi?" Sigyn bombarded her father with questions.

Lodur nodded. "We spoke candidly for a while. I asked him, on your behalf, to bring you back to Asgard but he ignored my request. I said you needed Loki; you had lost your son and Loki was who you needed, but Odin insisted you would be fine because you had what you came here for."

Sigyn could easily assume who that meant. "You."

Lodur nodded again. "I will not go into the details of what he said after that, but he said he did know about Narfi being born, and that he had died. I asked him if Loki knew, and Odin answered me negatively. He said Loki never knew and never would." Both father and daughter shared the same soured looks of discontent upon their faces. "He claimed Loki had a greater destiny ahead of him, and knowing about Narfi would've kept him from that destiny."

"He hasn't changed, so it would seem."

"No, and to be honest I was happy when he left," Lodur remarked. "It is no Asgard, but this world is my home now. It is where my daughter is, where my grandson was. Midgard – Earth – is where I belong."

"I wish I could share your sentiments as wholeheartedly as you do, father. It would make this existence more bearable," she commented dejectedly. "That is all this is to me anymore; an existence. It is just existing and not living." She stared off over her father's shoulder for a moment and attempted a smile but it came out as more of a frown. "Though I wander this earth, I am not here. I am nothing more than a ghost with a heartbeat."

 

* * *

 

Mediation had recently become something Loki had immersed himself in when feeling stressed or trying to pluck his own mind for answers to his problems.

Sitting cross-legged at the bottom step leading up to Odin's throne, Loki could hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching while he kept his eyes closed. He was trying to ignore whoever it was that was nearing, in hopes they would keep on walking and leave him be, but the footsteps stopped in front of him.

"You are not who I expected to be here."

Loki opened one eye and glanced up at the imposing figure of Heimdall standing there, holding his helmet in his hands. "It is almost distressing to see you without that thing on your head."

"Where is your father?"

"You see all. Can you not figure it out on your own?"

"These are stressful times of war and I try to give your father privacy once in a while."

"He's in council chambers with Thor," Loki replied flatly. "Are they expecting you? With this war raging on between our realm and Nornheim, I expect my father values any and all insight you have."

Heimdall nodded, and moved to walk off, but then he stopped and turned back to look at Loki who had sensed the Asgardian Gatekeeper had something on his mind.

"Yes?" Loki inquired knowingly.

"We rarely speak to each other," Heimdall stated.

"Of this I am aware."

"I told you once that I was sorry. At the time you knew not why I was apologizing."

"It was because Sigyn had been banished."

"Yes," Heimdall nodded. "I watched the two of you growing up together and fall in love. Had you been allowed to be with each other the rest of your lives, your love could have been the stuff of legends."

Loki pursed his lips and frowned. "While I appreciate this touching moment—"

"I have watched you silently mourn your separation from Sigyn for several centuries now and you have remained true to her, which I find very honorable. I have seen you when you were alone and moments of remembering your loss seemed too great for you to handle that you acted out of anger against whatever inanimate object was in your path." Heimdall moved to stand more in front of the Asgardian prince once more. "Not once have you come to me to ask how Sigyn has been doing."

"I suspect you wouldn't tell me anything anyway. You've probably been banned from doing so by my father."

"To an extent, yes. There are certain things I am barred from telling you about the life she's led up until now. However, the point is that I have seen all she has gone through. She has experienced terrible emotional pain, years of distress and loneliness. There have been moments of joy, she did find her father. That much I am allowed to tell you. Despite everything that has been thrown at her, she has managed to carry on out of love for you. She holds onto hope the two of you will one day find your ways back to each other. It is the only thing that keeps her sanity in check."

"Does this heartwarming talk have a conclusion?" Loki sarcastically inquired.

"I have watched Sigyn cling to hope, and I do not want to see you lose sight of it."

Loki found himself surprisingly moved by those words. He stared up at the mammoth of a man and gave him a respectful nod. "I do not intend to."

"Good." Heimdall pointed to his head. "Because I'll be watching."

Loki smirked as the Gatekeeper finally walked away to join the meeting of Odin's war council. The dark haired prince unfolded his legs and stretched them out in front of him, but he let his smirk fade away as his mind began to reel with some of Heimdall's words still echoing in his ears.

_What terrible emotional pain and distress has Sigyn suffered?_


	23. Gone From Me

* * *

 

Have you ever had that feeling as if the metaphorical rug is about to be pulled out from underneath you so you walk around, going about your life, but with this heavy feeling in the pit of your stomach and everything feels tense? Nothing you do to distract yourself ever seems to work, because no matter what, your mind keeps wandering back to the irksome feeling breathing down your neck like a dark shadow that always disappears when you turn around to look straight at it.

That is how Sigyn began to feel a few decades after rejoining her father's side in Venice.

She didn't understand why this sense of foreboding had entered into her consciousness; she just knew it was there. It, thankfully, wasn't a constant feeling, though. Sometimes it replaced the grief she still sometimes felt for Narfi, but sometimes she was fine.

Near the end of the 17th century, Sigyn and Lodur had already been in the New World for a few decades and were residing in Salem, Massachusetts; by chance when the witch hysteria had taken its hold and innocent people, mostly women, were brought to trial and executed. Managing to stay disconnected from the throes of the madness sweeping to community, Sigyn watched it unfold more as an outsider. The moment she felt she or her father were about to be approached and possibly accused of witchcraft as well, she suggested they leave Salem behind and return to Europe.

Not that Sigyn couldn't have handled any accusations and possibly even laid waste to the town if need be; she just couldn't be bothered to deal with such idiocy.

She felt remorse for the individuals caught up in the frenzy who lost their lives, but the pity she felt for all of the humans as a whole was greater. They were so incredibly naïve where their world was concerned. They didn't understand that anything beyond their superstitions and couldn't seem to see reason. How they dealt with these issues was all around barbaric to Sigyn, who was born into a society that was practically light years ahead in the way of rational thinking.

Sigyn and her father moved about European society for a few decades, before Sigyn decided she wanted to return to the American colonies, while her father was content where they were; in England, at the time. She agreed not to part ways with him this time until he was set up in a new home so that it would be easy to send letters to him after she got set up elsewhere. They also agreed not to leave wherever they wound up unless they had a current location for the other so keeping in touch wouldn't be an issue.

Two weeks after her father had set himself up in Derbyshire, Sigyn traveled on and sailed out of Southampton, arriving weeks later to Philadelphia, arriving in September of 1749.

She moved on immediately, moving south to settle in Baltimore for nearly twenty years before deciding to return to Philadelphia, which is where she was living when the Declaration of Independence was signed and war had broken out between England and the new United States of America. Her home was a row house on Front Street, looking out at the Delaware River, and to New Jersey beyond that. She employed a few servants then, which included a cook, a kitchen maid and two scullery maids. In all honesty, Sigyn could've probably made due with just one kitchen worker, but with her healthy Asgardian appetite, she ate more than a single human would be capable of. She also had just one housemaid, a laundress, a lady's maid, and a footman.

For a while, she found herself rather enjoying inviting people over to dine with her. Oftentimes it was her neighbors who seemed as well off as she portrayed herself to be. Closer to war times, she began to entertain prominent figures in the war efforts; finding that immersing herself in the current affairs usually took her mind off any nostalgic feelings and seeds of grief that began to creep back into her thoughts. When the British temporarily gained control of the city, Sigyn found she was entertaining the occasional English lieutenant and a few of his men.

Following the British occupation, Sigyn found herself invited to a dinner party in the house of Benjamin Franklin. However, Franklin was no longer in residence there with the British presence so abundant. It was currently occupied by Major John André of the British Army.

When first she looked upon André, Sigyn was taken aback by how much he seemed to resemble Loki. His hair was more fair like that of Thor, and his eyes were blue, and his nose was a bit longer and stuck out more, but the man truly looked like he could be related to her husband and she found herself rather intrigued by him. A part of her almost wondered he really was Loki, and had was masquerading with a different face so Heimdall wouldn't realize it was him so he wouldn't get punished for coming to see her. It made sense in a way to Sigyn. Why else would a British soldier she had not yet met or entertained in her own home call upon her with an invitation to dine with him, his fellow soldiers and other colonists.

The evening began first with wine and small finger foods in the parlor where everyone was introduced to one another, if they hadn't already met before. André greeted Sigyn pleasantly with a bow and placing a kiss on the back of her right hand. She couldn't deny he was exceptionally handsome, primarily because he reminded her so much of Loki. That was probably her only reason for being so charmed by him, because she likened his looks and his demeanor to that of Loki. After introductions had been made and everyone had been enjoying some light dancing, André took her arm and escorted her into the dining room when the meal was ready to be served. While he was seated at the head of the table with his back to the fireplace, Sigyn was seated to his immediate right and, being familiar with dining human dining etiquette from recent centuries, knew her placement at the table and how he, as host, had escorted her in, meant she was his guest of honor.

André was quite pleasant and lively and he kept the conversation always interesting. Once when one of his men tried to bring up the politics of war, André teasingly condemned him and advised they commit to giving rest to talks of war for one night as not to bore the ladies.

Sigyn, however, was quite interested and assured André wasn't in the least bit bored by such talk.

"Pray tell, Mrs. Thornley," commented one of the soldiers, addressing her with the surname of Astrid's she had chosen to go by while in Philadelphia, "What is your position then? We have only just met this night but I am yet wondering on what side of the coin you lay?"

Holding a glass of wine casually in her hand, she smirked. "Are you asking me if I am a Loyalist or a Patriot?"

"I am," the soldier nodded, seriousness in his voice.

Sigyn took a sip and set the glass down. "I lay not on the coin at all. I take no position in this war. Whoever wins, wins. Regimes rise and fall all the time, over the course of history and will continue to do so well after you are all dead and gone."

"You speak as you have witnessed countless wars."

"Maybe I have," Sigyn grinned mischievously. "Maybe I am immortal and have lived on this earth for centuries."

André laughed and leaned back in his chair. "So, you would be content no matter who wins this war? If the Patriots win, you would be okay with that just as equally if we win?"

Sigyn nodded. "I am not from these Colonies anyway. This is not my natural home. It is just where I found myself some time ago. I tend to travel quite a lot."

André narrowed his gaze curiously. "Where are you from originally then?"

She was feeling bold, and she knew they would never believe her anyway. "Ever heard of Asgard?"

"I have," a second solider piped up. "From Nordic myths, like with Odin and Thor and Freya."

Sigyn soured inwardly at the mentions of Odin and her mother's names. "Yes, exactly."

"Asgard is where they all live, just like the Greek gods supposedly live atop Mount Olympus."

André laughed again, taking a sip of his own wine. "So, you mean to say you are a goddess from the heavens?"

"Oh, yes," she smiled, leaning forward toward him a bit.

He leaned in as well, still smiling. "And what, pray tell, might you be the goddess of? Beauty, no doubt."

"Constancy, I suppose."

"Constancy?"

Sigyn nodded. "Yes. I am forever devoted to my husband."

"An honorable thing to be," he nodded. Raising his glass, he gestured for the others to follow suit. "I would like a make a toast, in that case. To Mrs. Thornley, to the war, to all of us; may we be forever constant in our convictions and our efforts and let no man put asunder."

"I will drink to that," Sigyn remarked, clinking her glass with André's and then the few others seated beside and across from her.

After dinner, tea was served in the drawing room and more tomfoolery was had. Sigyn never wavered from their joviality. She partook without shame, unlike the few women that were there. Most, she assumed were actually some manner of prostitutes. What solidified her assumptions was how non-discreet the soldiers thought they were being when they disappeared for a while with one of the women and would return some time later, slightly disheveled.

Sigyn was the last to leave, and on purpose. André had asked her to hang back because he wanted to escort her home himself. So, in the early hours of the morning, his footman assisted them into his coach and then the coachman took his place and carried them along in the direction of Sigyn's home.

Underneath a dark sky where no moon shined, and only the stars, André offered her his cloak, which he had been wearing over his army reds, for extra warmth over hers. She shook off the gesture with a polite smile, insisting she was perfectly content. They made small talk on the ride which didn't take too long at all. When they arrived, André stepped out of the coach first and then took her hand to help her out. As a gentleman, he offered her his arm and walked her up to the front door, which was opened by her lady's maid, Eliza.

"I know you are a goddess of constancy and are forever devoted to your husband who has gone before you, but would you still allow me to call upon you soon?" he asked, holding her hand and leaning down to kiss it.

Sigyn considered, and then shrugged. "I suppose you may."

Leaning back up and standing straight, André smiled and bowed politely to her. "Then I look forward to our next meeting."

"Perhaps I shall hold a dinner here next and you can be my guest of honor. And maybe then you can tell me why it is you had me as yours tonight."

"Oh, that is simple," he commented, stepping backward with a slight skip in his step. "I saw you from afar and was instantly overcome by your beauty. I asked around about you, and no one seems to truly know, even after I was given your name; Astrid Thornley. A beautiful name for a beautiful face."

"Is that all I am to you; just a beautiful face?"

"Oh, no, of course not," André assured. He stepped back toward his coach and gave a slight chuckle. "You are a goddess."

Sigyn tried to keep a straight face but wound up letting out a small laugh as she shook her head at him before retreating inside of her home. She removed her cloak and handed it to Eliza before sidestepping to the nearest window and peering out it at André's coach as it retreated from view down the road. The Directly across the road she could see the stars glittering on the Delaware River and the light from lanterns on a few ships that made their berth on the water's edge.

"I will be sleeping in today. Do not bother to wake me, but make sure to pass along to the cook to be on the ready," she commented Eliza. "I expect I'll have quite the appetite when I greet the day."

Eliza nodded her head respectively. "Yes, ma'am."

Sigyn ascended the stairs and turned left to enter her bedroom. She removed the stomacher from the front of her gown, and then her gown and petticoat. She moved toward her floor-length mirror, looking at her reflection as she slipped out of her hooped petticoat and began to unlace her stays, wishing for the time when clothing in this world would become less of a chore to get in and out of. Once she was standing in her shift, she moved over to sit down at her dressing table where she removed the pins that held her hair up so that she could brush through her long, dark locks.

She looked at her reflection again and smiled.

It was the first time in a long time she felt honestly happy in her life.

Who would've thought a mortal man – Major John André – would be able to allow her to forget about her grief and loneliness?

However, the moment she realized she was happy, that feeling faded and she felt guilty. In her heart and mind she was and always would be married to Loki and she would never in good conscience take another man as her husband, even if she hadn't seen Loki in six hundred years; longer than they had been alive and known each other. That didn't matter, though. One day with of knowing Loki was enough to secure the knowledge that she would love him deeply until the end of time.

She just couldn't help the butterflies André had placed within her stomach.

She went to bed that night – or early morning, rather – with a smile on her face, whilst pushing any guilty feelings from her mind.

 

* * *

 

Off and on for a few months, Sigyn found herself solely entertaining British soldiers in her home for the sole purpose of making sure André was in attendance. It was a ploy to see him, and she knew he was doing the same, when he hosted dinners and invited her back. Eventually, however, the pretense fell away and she sent a letter to him asking him to come alone to her home; that she had sent her servants away for the night.

She waited silently in the parlor as fire crackled in the fireplace beside her. There was a small table at her left where sat a glass of red wine, an uncorked wine bottle and a second, albeit empty, glass.

In seemingly no time at all, the sound of hooves and wheels on gravel, mingled with the sounds of reins and the other sounds a coach makes as it comes to a stop, filtered into the air from outside and Sigyn rose to her feet. She was wearing a simple gown with a warm shawl around her shoulders as she approached the door gingerly, and waited.

After a few moments, there was a succession of four quick knocks. Sigyn paused for good measure and then turned the handle, stepping aside behind the door and opening it up.

In André stepped, removing his three-cornered hat and placing it against his chest as he turned to find Sigyn standing there. Before either spoke, she closed the door behind them and ushered him into the parlor where the drapes where closed and the fire burned on.

"I must say," he finally said, "I was pleasantly surprised to receive your letter this evening. It was not one I was expecting."

"Would you care for some wine?" She gestured toward the empty glass on the small table.

"I would, thank you." Sigyn moved to go pour him a glass but he cut her off. "No, allow me." He lifted the bottle up and filled his glass full and then topped off Sigyn's glass. Setting the bottle back down, he lifted both glasses up, took his and passed Sigyn's to her. "I feel as if we should be toasting to something. Any suggestions?"

"No," she shook her head and took a sip. "You're not here for toasting, are you? What other possible reason could I have sent for you at this hour to meet me alone?"

"And like that the goddess cuts to the chase," André smirked, clinking his glass to hers and then taking a sip. He puckered his lips slightly, possibly because he wasn't fond of whatever wine she was serving, but swallowed it back nonetheless.

"I've lived too long to be bothered by pretense."

"I would inquire how old you are, exactly, but a gentleman never asks a lady her age."

Sigyn smirked. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Just trust me when I say I am older than I look." Sigyn finished off her glass and set it back onto the table and gesture for André to do the same.

Once his hands were free, he wasted no time and grabbed Sigyn at the hips and pulled her against him. "Very well, let's cut to the chase together, then, shall we?"

Sigyn nodded and looked at him with the light from the fire flickering in her eyes. Gripping the sides of his coat, she leaned in further and placed her lips upon his and in an instant he was backing them up into the wall. It seemed like quite some time before either came up for air and when they did, Sigyn stepped away from him and walked into the front hall and gestured for him to follow her up the stairs.

When they reached her bedroom door, she pushed it open; her back to him as she entered in. He followed again; closing the door for their privacy should any of her servants happen to come back for whatever reason, unannounced. She moved over to the bed and began to undo the laces at the front of her dress when André removed a knife from its sheath that hung from his belt.

"Do you care terribly for this gown?"

"Not in the least."

"Good."

André began to cut the material from her until she was only in her shift, stays and stockings. While she stepped out of her tattered gown which was pooled in pieces on the floor, André began to remove all of his clothing until only his breeches and his own stockings remained.

Sigyn stared at the expanse of his chest and noted he was much wider across than Loki but it was just as smooth as she remembered Loki's to be. With a curl of her finger she beckoned for him to join her on the bed where she was now sitting. André stepped over and lifted the bottom of her shift up and pulled it up over her head, tossing it behind him to the floor. She crawled backward onto the bed and waited for him as he undid his breeches and slid them off along with his stockings and then climbed up onto the mattress.

He was about to crawl up over her but she stopped him with her foot by placing it firmly on his shoulder and lowering him back down until he caught the hint. Nestling his face down below, André used his tongue to administer pleasure to her as best he could manage. He was no silver-tongue god of mischief but he wasn't exactly a novice when he came to pleasuring a woman either. He had Sigyn cooing in plenty of time as she gripped his hair tightly around her fingers.

Before could attempt to make her see stars, Sigyn lifted his head up, causing him to wince slightly from the forcefulness of the gesture because sometimes she forgot how easily wounded humans tended to be. Without a word, she motioned for him to stop and move up onto the bed beside her, only for her to flip him over onto his back and straddle him.

Sigyn looked down at his expectant eyes and frowned somewhat as she pulled the pins from her hair and stuck them on the bedside table. She sat up straight once more and held his gaze. "Close your eyes," she demanded, and he obeyed.

Placing her hands about an inch from his face, she watched as a wave of green light began to emit from her palms. André's features distorted momentarily before they changed altogether.

For Sigyn, she was no longer staring down at André.

She had created an illusion so that he now looked as how she remembered Loki to look.

She grinned.

"Open your eyes."

Loki's green eyes stared back at her now, and no longer André's.

"Why did—" he began, but she cut him off with a finger to his lips. His voice was still that of André's. That hadn't changed with the illusion.

"Don't speak unless you are going to say my name."

André grinned. "Oh, Astrid."

"No," she said brusquely. "Call me Sigyn."

"Sigyn? Are we playing a game?" he wiggled his eyebrows at her and began to sit up a bit before she shoved him back down to the mattress.

"Shh, no talking."

Sigyn positioned herself over him and sank down all the way, staring into the face of André, unknowingly disguised as her husband. She put her full Asgardian strength to the test as she rode him fiercely until he was crying out in most wondrous satisfaction. She was leaning forward over his chest, her hands on either side of his face and kissing him. In her moment of elation, she lost her focus on the illusion and she saw Loki's face no more and only André's.

She was no expecting to be hit so suddenly with grief that she rolled off him and lay onto her back. She then pushed him away from her and turned from him.

André didn't seem to notice the change in her demeanor as he moved to lie on his side as well. He propped his head up with one hand while the other trailed up her hip. "Shall I fetch us the rest of that wine downstairs before we have another go?" he inquired impishly.

"I want you to leave now."

André furrowed his brow. "What?"

"I have realized this has all been a terrible mistake. I have used you."

"You cannot use the willing, my love."

"Do not call me that."

"Oh yes, I am sorry, I forgot," he smirked. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he spoke, "Sigyn."

With the reflexes of a cat, Sigyn turned around and shoved André so hard off the bed that he went flying across the room and broke the chair to her dressing table when he landed on it. He groaned in pain and struggled to get to his feet as Sigyn sat up and slid off the edge of her bed; standing there naked as the day she came crying and looking like a formidable foe on the battlefield.

"I said to leave now. I am not your love. I belong to one man and one man only and I used you whether you think I did or not," she growled. "Now leave, before I throw you out the window."

André clamored for his breeches; covering himself with them while staring, confused, at Sigyn for her change of demeanor. Minutes ago, she seemed so completely besotted with him and now she look upon him with disdain and regret.

"But, I do not understand," he began, furrowing his brow and looking around toward the floor as if a logical answer would appear there. "I thought you and I were…" he looked back up at her, holding her eye.

She shook her head and turned to pull a blanket from the bed to wrap around her body. "There is no 'us.' I made a mistake," Sigyn cut him off. She felt terribly pained. "You and I are not meant to walk the same path together. It would not last for reasons you will never understand."

"You keep saying that; that I won't understand," he snipped, stepping into his breeches and buttoning them up. "But what does it mean?" He moved forward a few inches and tilted his head, mentally imploring her to look him in the eye again. "We could be great together."

"Were I a different person whose heart was free, I am certain we would be," she agreed. "But I am neither of those things and it would be unfair to you." Sigyn closed the gap between them and held his face in her hands and smiled almost motherly at him. "I thank you for this night, but we cannot see each other again."

"But—"

"Shh," she hushed him. "You will leave here tonight and continue with your life without me in it because that is the way it should be." She brushed her fingers back through his hair. "You are a decent man, Jonathan André. I want you to make me a promise that when this war is over, you will return home and you will marry a lovely girl and have many children with her." Sigyn leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead. "Live a long, healthy and happy life."

André looked quite crestfallen and Sigyn honestly believed that, were she a human woman who wasn't content to remain devoted to her husband Loki, she would've been happy to make a life with André and given him children. But she wasn't human and she would only ever be Loki's, despite tonight's lapse in judgment on her part. She had let André's charm, looks and joy of life momentarily entangle in a sort of fairytale.

"I can make no such promise, Astrid, or whatever you want to be called," he remarked; his voice laced with cynicism and melancholy. "You have made me fall in love with you these last few months and have ruined me for any other woman." He pressed his forehead to hers. "There is no woman in this world quite like you."

"Well, you're not incorrect," she chuckled.

Her response brought a small smile to his lips. "I will happily go on with my life as a bachelor and one day, when we are both dead and gone, I should hope to find you again in heaven so I might spend eternity with you."

"Stop that," she chided. "I have promised eternity to my husband and I do not break my promises."

"Your husband is dead and gone, though."

"My husband is gone from me, but he lives in a world beyond this one."

"You and your riddles: twisting words like you have done to my heartstrings, you marvelous woman." André brushed his nose against her and placed a kiss on her lips.

She pulled back almost immediately, not wanting to lead him on and give him hope where there was none. "If you are determined to remain a childless bachelor, at least promise me this war won't claim your life so that I will not have to visit your grave for many decades to come," she spoke. "Can you do that at least?"

André smirked and nodded. "I can certainly try."

"Good," she said. "Now finish dressing." Sigyn unwrapped the blanket from her body and tossed it to the bed before grabbing her shift up off the floor and putting it back on, and then reaching for the robe in her armoire and putting it on. "I shall be downstairs waiting to see you off."

Sigyn left her bedroom and descended the stairs; turning right and heading into the parlor where she sat down in the same chair from earlier. She poured herself another glass of wine as she heard André's footsteps on the stairs and then looked up as he appeared in the archway of the room with his red coat draped over an arm.

"Will you not change your mind about us?" he inquired. Sigyn opened her mouth to speak but then he just nodded perceptively. "I know, there is no 'us', but as much as you say that, I know there was. You can tell yourself whatever you want, to make yourself believe it, but I know you loved me just as well, and quite possibly still do. You just will not allow yourself to love another."

"You think you know me so well, don't you?" she quipped, taking a sip of her wine and then setting the glass down.

"I believe I do. Well enough, anyway," he added.

Sigyn looked toward the fire. "You can let yourself out."

"No goodbye?"

"No," she answered. "They're too final."

"Till we meet again?" he suggested, watching her though she was trying to ignore him. He could barely see the corner of her mouth raise in what he could easily deem to be a small smile.

"Yes," she nodded. "Till we meet again."

"Very well."

André looked down at his coat and then threw it around his shoulders and slipped it on. He didn't bother to button it up as he moved for the front door and opened it; however, he stopped midway and turned back to glance at her. Sigyn sensed this and looked back at him through her peripheral vision.

"I will not forget you," he insisted. "My goddess."

And with that, André left her home and her life forever.

Two and a half years later, Sigyn was living in White Plains, New York when she learned through the grapevine that André had been captured by the American army and was standing trial for being behind American lines and a spy. Still feeling great affection for him, she made her way to Tappan, New York where he was being held, a day after he was sentenced to be executed.

Sigyn was in the crowd when he was brought to the gallows where he was to be hanged by the neck until dead. Wearing a red gown for him, in honor of his position, she stood out somewhat, but he took the focus from the crowd for obvious reasons. She watched as he held his head high and walked honorably up to the cart which was to be pushed from out underneath him. He spoke brief words to his executioner and placed the noose around his own neck, hesitating only slightly and Sigyn began to feel tears sting her eyes. She knew she was capable of stopping all of this but he seemed rather resigned to his fate.

Two handkerchiefs were removed from his pockets; one was used to restrain his arms and the other placed around his eyes. He was then offered the opportunity to speak his last words if he so desired to.

Lifting his blindfold up, André scanned the crowd briefly and as his eyes fell upon Sigyn and spoke as if speaking just to her alone. "I pray you to bear me witness that I meet my fate like a brave man."

Tears rolled down her face but she held her composure and nodded.

The blindfold was brought back down and without hesitation the wagon was removed from underneath him and he was suspended, dying instantly as his neck snapped.

Sigyn remained afterward, as his body was removed and laid to rest in an ordinary coffin while dressed in his royal regimentals and boots. The hole was dug for his grave at the foot of the gallows where he was interred. An officer placed a wooden cross to signify the burial site after it was covered up once more with soil.

Even after the crowd had all dispersed, Sigyn stood vigil as she approached his fresh grave and tried to think fondly of their short time together.

"Now you, too, are gone from me; to live in a world beyond this one." She removed a small knife from a pouch concealed under her cloak and slid the blade across the palm of her hand. As the blood began to appear she held it out over the disturbed soil and let it fall. "Part of me joins you, my friend."

Sheathing her knife, she pulled her hand back and balled it into a fist.

That night, Sigyn found passage on a ship leaving New York Harbor and sailed across the Atlantic to Europe, not caring where exactly she ended up.

 

* * *

 

In France is where she found herself, and in twelve years' time she witnessed the September Massacres, which began to further instill in her that humankind was full of barbarians, especially after the country put to death its king by decapitation at the guillotine. Nine months later, their queen lost her head as well and Sigyn was rightfully sickened by such a deed. In her opinion, like André before them, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's punishments were in no way equal to their supposed crimes and Sigyn found the deaths to be cruel and unnecessary.

She watched as war broke out once again, this time between France and several European allies. Young men were dying all over and Sigyn felt there was no hope for humanity and in time they would destroy themselves for good.

A year into the 19th century, Sigyn had once more rejoined her father in Bath, England. There he had taken on the identity of Ludwig von Offenheimer, an "Austrian merchant of mysterious wealth". Sigyn adopted the identity as his young, widowed daughter, Anna.

During the next twelve months, Sigyn watched as her father mingled easily into polite society and seemed to grow rather smitten with Eleanor Ashby Cummings, a widow with a fifteen-year-old son named Charles. Sigyn enjoyed Eleanor's company well enough but found her son to be somewhat of a prat and was grateful when he was gone away to school.

She was quite oblivious to just how deep Lodur's feelings were for Eleanor, having grown more and more cynical in recent years and not caring much for the lives of humans anymore. She had grown weary of their pettiness and desire to destroy each everything they had built despite any advancements in knowledge and technology they had made.

It wasn't until an autumn afternoon while Sigyn was taking tea in the drawing room that she was brought into her father's loop.

He approached her with somewhat of a skip in his step and took the seat across from her. When she looked up from the book that held her attention, Lodur leaned forward and took one of her hands in his.

"I have something important to tell you."

"You've found a way off this forsaken world?"

His smile wavered slightly before bypassing her comment. "No, not that."

"Then what?"

"You are aware that I have been seeing much of Ms. Cummings these several months, yes?"

Sigyn closed her book with her free hand and stared back at her father. "I am."

"Well, I am delighted to tell you she has agreed to marry me."

There were a few moments of nothing said between father and daughter. He just looked at her expectantly while she considered his words with skepticism.

"You plan to marry Eleanor?"

"Yes, I do," he sighed and grinned wide. "I know it may seem odd or sudden, but I can wholeheartedly say I have never been so in love in all my entirely long life. I never even felt this way with your mother." Then, "No offense meant."

Sigyn shrugged. "None taken."

"I love Eleanor with every fiber of my being, Sigyn, and for the first time I feel like I have something more to live for. Her presence has cast away any shadows that have found their way into my soul and everything feels warm and bright in here," he added, placing his hand over his heart.

Sigyn felt a tinge of jealousy; wishing she could have that fervent feeling back. All she had was her memories of Loki; her love and devotion for him, but to never see him again which darkened her heart along with the never forgotten memory of their murdered son he would never know.

"You are aware you will watch Eleanor grow old and die?"

"Yes, but she is quite young."

"She has a son of fifteen."

"She had him at nineteen, when she was barely out of girlhood," he explained. "She has plenty of years ahead of her and is healthy as a horse."

Sigyn considered this, watching as her father beamed with love. She had never seen him like this and her only option was to be happy for him. "Just promise me you won't be surprised when she dies. She is human and their lives are short and fragile compared to us."

"Every moment with her will be like centuries and I shall treasure each one."

Smiling, despite her reservations over the matter, Sigyn accepted it. "If it is my blessing you are seeking, then you have it."

Lodur let out a chuckle and grabbed Sigyn up in his arms. "That means everything to me, my darling girl, and I hope you come to love Eleanor as much as I do."

"I will love her as long as she loves you and treats you with the respect you deserve."

He smirked. "You are the best daughter a father could ask for." He released her from their embrace and she sat back into her chair while he did the same in his.

She tried to bring her attention back to her book. "This I know," she retorted.

 

* * *

 

The wedding two place the day after Christmas morning, which was a Sunday. Charles was home from school at Eton until after the New Year which meant Sigyn was stuck with the boy while Lodur and Eleanor left the following day to travel to southern Italy for their honeymoon.

Eleanor had been let in on the secret of who Sigyn and Lodur really were and it didn't seem to matter to her, which Sigyn found endearing. She was happy this mortal woman indeed loved her father for who he was, no matter who he was. Her son, on the other hand, would not be told any truths until he was curbed of immaturity and grown into more of a man.

While her father and mortal stepmother were away, Sigyn found herself awkwardly sharing most meals with Charles in the dining room. She never bothered with starting any sort of conversation with him and he didn't seem interested in carrying one with her anyway, which was both a blessing and still just awkward despite it all. She was pleasant enough when he left a few days after the first of January to return to Eton for the rest of his school year. She had bid him farewell and a safe journey and would write to him if anything important came up in regard to both their parents.

While Charles was now technically her brother, albeit by marriage, she would never consider him as such, just as she would never truly consider Eleanor her stepmother. The latter, for one, was about seven hundred years younger than her. Thankfully, Eleanor seemed to understand this and offered a better suggestion for their relationship.

"I know I am nowhere near being a mother figure for you, but perhaps you might think of me as a sister."

Sigyn considered this and then nodded with a smile. "I suppose I can do that."

Oftentimes Eleanor found it necessary to confide in Sigyn that she wished to give Lodur a child but feared what kind of life it would mean if said child was born to a human mother and an Asgardian father. Would any child she might conceive have the same amount of years as a human, would they have a great many as an Asgardian or would their lifespan fall somewhere in between? She also worried about whether or not her body could handle such a pregnancy and birth, and as far as Sigyn knew, no Asgardian had ever mated with a human and produced offspring, so she had no advice to give. She simply told Eleanor to follow her heart and see where life took her.

Over the next decade, though, a child between Lodur and Eleanor seemed not to be in the cards for them. Whether they were purposely trying or not, Sigyn did not want to know.

A little over twelve years following the wedding, a few changes happened in the world. The War of 1812 between the US, Canada and the United Kingdom came to an end, and the Treaty of Paris was signed in November following the defeat and second abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. However, during both of those events, things took a turn for the worse in Lodur's household.

In May, Eleanor had took ill with what was thought to be a slight cold that not even she thought anything on but, by the month's end, had taken a turn for the worse. A doctor was sent for to examine and treat her and he came back with the diagnosis that she had consumption.

Lodur was beside himself and in denial that Eleanor could possibly be at her end. Immune to such an illness, Sigyn offered to sit at Eleanor's side and tend to her throughout most nights to make sure she got some food and drink in her. Charles was a grown man by then and finally in the loop in regard to Lodur and Sigyn and at some point had finally matured mentally and not just physically.

While Eleanor began to slowly waste away, Lodur approached his daughter with pleading eyes.

"You know magic," he began. "Surely there is something you can do to heal her or give her a few more years with me."

"I am not a healer, father."

"But you know magic."

"I know some magic. It doesn't mean I can stop the wheels that are already in motion," she replied and was slightly offended. "Had I the ability to prevent death, do you not think I would have done so with my own son?"

"That was so long ago, though. You have had many more centuries to hone your talents."

"But I haven't. I barely use my magic; what little I know to do." She furrowed her brow at him and stepped back. "Do not think to place blame on me for the impending death of your bride because I cannot stop it. You knew this day would come."

Lodur looked so forlorn and haggard. He had stopped shaving and his beard had grown in quite quickly. "I did not think it would come this soon. She is still young and has so many more years ahead of her to live."

"She is a human woman and humans do not have access to the healing powers or medication we have had in Asgard. They do not possess the knowledge in their minds yet on how to better take care of their own kind. They're more involved with destroying each other than advancing their society and technologies." Then, more to herself, she added, "It has been like living in the dark ages these many centuries."

"I cannot accept this. Eleanor is my everything. She is the sun in my sky."

Sigyn found herself a bit hurt by his words, as if he had completely forgotten she had been there at his side for the better part of the last six hundred plus years. She knew she couldn't judge him for that, though. He was about to suffer a great loss, just as she had losing Narfi, and she would be there for him the same as he was there for her when she needed it.

"The sun is a star, is it not?"

Lodur sighed. "It is."

Sigyn placed her hands on either side of her father's shoulders and got him to look at her. "The sun may set, but like all stars, they are always shining for us, even in those hours we cannot see them."

"Such wise words," he remarked with sad eyes.

"I've had a long time to focus my own anger and grief. I have lost so many people I loved and cared about and it has changed me," she spoke. "I am not the naïve princess who came here so long ago in search of her father. I am husbandless wife, a childless mother…and yet something compels me to move on when anyone might have given up. I am not saying that makes me better than anyone else, but you have to admit I am pretty remarkable."

That was enough to a pull a small, but brief smile out of her father. "Indeed you are." Placing his lips to her forehead, he whispered, "Thank you, my daughter." Lodur stepped back and looked toward the bedroom Eleanor was resting in. "I am going to look in on her."

"Very well."

Sigyn looked after her father as he slipped inside the room and then turned to look out the window to her left. She walked up to it and watched the people walking along the Royal Crescent or coming and going by way of some sort of horse drawn carriage. The weather was nicer and the ladies were out in the more linen dresses in whites and pastel colors, whereas winter had been the thicker materials in darker colors that seemed to match the darker season with its short days. Now the days were getting longer, the sun was shining longer and everything was in bloom and coming to life.

It did seem rather ironic that this would be the time of year for Eleanor to fade away into darkness.

 

* * *

 

Two days later Eleanor took her last breath. Lodur had been downstairs taking breakfast in the dining room with Sigyn and Charles when Eleanor's lady's maid came into the room in tears declare she had just gone to check on Mrs. Offenheimer (how Eleanor was stylized after her marriage to Lodur), and found her to have passed from this life.

Lodur had stood up in such a flurry that he knocked his chair backward onto the floor and ran out of the room and up the stairs. Sigyn looked across the table at Charles who seemed like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Do you not grieve your mother's death?" Sigyn inquired, standing up and stepping away from the table.

"Of course I do," he replied defiantly. "She was my mother, but I am relieved to know she is no longer suffering and free from her mortal confines. I pray my father has greeted her with open arms in the Lord's kingdom."

Sigyn accepted his answer and walked out of the room; Charles followed shortly after. They both went upstairs to Eleanor's room and found Lodur cradling her dead body and sobbing a river of tears. There was really nothing they could say or do for him at the moment, but let him embrace his grief.

As a show of solidarity, Sigyn took Charles' hand in hers and held it tightly.

He turned to look at her profile as she stared straight ahead at both their parents, and he squeezed her hand back.

 

* * *

 

Lodur never seemed to truly recover from his loss; much in the way Sigyn had never truly recovered from losing Narfi and being forever separated from Loki. He was a broken man who had lost the one woman he had loved more than a living, breathing "goddess of beauty." In his several thousand years of life, Lodur had not once had a soulmate until he had met Eleanor, and even then he only got to have her for thirteen of those years.

She was buried three days later, on the first day of June, and her family came out in droves to bid her farewell and express their condolences to Lodur, who couldn't be bothered with whatever they had to say so Sigyn and Charles took the brunt of it on her father's behalf while he hid himself away behind closed doors, day in and day out.

This went on for several years; six, to be exact.

During the year of 1821, there were a few poignant events.

James Monroe was sworn into his second term as President of the United States, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile, George IV is crowned king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Mexico gained independence from Spain, Missouri was admitted as the 24th U.S. state, and the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland began to erupt.

A week following the volcanic eruption was the day after Christmas, and would've been Lodur and Eleanor's nineteenth wedding anniversary. Charles had moved out a few years earlier when he inherited his uncle's home in Frome.

It was just Sigyn and her father together. But really, it felt like she was alone most of the time. Lodur never went anywhere and when he did it was at night. He took most of his meals in his room so that left Sigyn to dine by herself, though she sometimes asked her lady's maid to join her for the sake of having someone to talk to.

The day of Lodur's would-be nineteenth anniversary, Sigyn had grown tired of waiting for her father to come to terms with his mourning. Even she had come out of her shell from time to time following Narfi's death. Granted, she still occasionally went back into it. She hadn't seen or heard from her father in days, despite the fact that they were living under the same roof. Normally she might hear him shuffling around or muttering to himself, but this time she hadn't heard a peep from him since Christmas Eve. He had left a note pinned to the outside of his bedroom door stating not to be disturbed until the 27th, which was the following day.

Sigyn figured he wanted the 26th, his anniversary, to be celebrated by himself without any outside intrusion.

However, Sigyn had had enough and she wasn't going to let her father wallow any longer. He had helped her find life was worth living and this forsaken world was somehow worth being a part of, and she was determined to do the same for him.

When she made it upstairs and stood outside his bedroom, she ripped his note off the door and crumpled it in her hands. She was about to turn the doorknob and enter in when something outside caught her attention. She looked out the window to the road below and noticed two ravens perched on the short, wrought iron fence across the way. They sat there like harbingers and something inside Sigyn's stomach fell and twisted. Her eyes immediately scanned back to her father's bedroom door and in seconds she pushed it open and stepped inside.

At first she saw nothing.

The drapes were drawn closed and no candles were lit. The air had a musty and stagnant quality to it, and something else; something coppery.

Stalking over to the drapes, she whipped them open, watching as dust particles dance around the light that filtered in. When she turned around she finally noticed her father.

He was kneeling and hunched over some papers, so for a moment Sigyn thought her father had been reading in the dark.

But that's when she saw the blood below him that had already been coagulating. And he wasn't just hunched over, either. He was impaled onto a sword through his heart.

Sigyn's eyes went wide as she processed what she was seeing.

Her mind went blank for a moment, paralyzed; unable to speak or move.

Lodur had taken his own life.

Her father was dead.

Sigyn shook her head as denial seeped into her every pore.

Dropping to her knees, she placed her hands on his back and shook him, trying to wake him up. She placed a hand under his chin to help him hold his head up but it dropped back down on its own from dead weight.

She cried out, only faintly, in what sounded more like a labored gasp. Letting her eyes fall to the papers underneath him, she noticed an envelope with her name on it. Her real one, not her fake one she was using while they lived together in Bath.

With shaking hands, she reached for the envelope and broke the wax seal to pull the letter out. She peered at him every few moments as if any movement she made would cause him to stir; like a statue coming to life. Unfolding the letter, she began to read the words her father had penned.

Instead of crying, Sigyn rose quietly to her feet and let her father's letter to her fall at her feet. Her hands were shaking once more but not from fear, but from rage.

"How can you leave be alone in this forsaken world?" she growled at his corpse. "I gave up my home and the love my life to find you. I was banished here because of that. My son never knew his father because of that. My son was murdered, but I had you to keep me sane and away from the darkness in my mind. What am I supposed to do now?"

She paced back and forth, wringing her hands and then balling them up into fists.

"I have constantly lost people over the centuries I thought of as friends, but you were my constant. I always knew you would be there for me and no you take your life like a damned coward."

The room seemed to shake with her anger.

"COWARD!" she screamed, lifting her balled fists up so that they were parallel to her chest.

In a heartbeat, the candles around the room flickered to life and raged upward, higher than a normal flame. A mirror on the wall shattered and a few pastoral paintings fell off their hooks and crashed to the floor.

From all of the commotion she was coming, her father's valet and her lady's maid had come running to see what the problem was, but on instinct she retaliated against their intrusion. She opened the palm of her right hand in their direction and blasted green energy at them both. They went flying back into the wall across the hall from Lodur's bedroom door.

Seething with rage and grief, something in Sigyn was set off; like a light turning on. Or, rather, turning off. She seemed rather mechanical in her movements and her eyes had lost their spark.

When her lady's maid began to protest and ask what was the matter, Sigyn responded by holding her hand up and lifting the girl up off the ground with only magic. The girl clawed at her neck as if she was suffocating and before she could receive any assistance from the valet, Sigyn tossed her through the window to her death below.

The valet clamored to his feet and pleaded with Sigyn to stop but she just walked forward and grabbed him, physically, by the neck. But, instead of having him follow her lady's maid out the window, she merely snapped his neck where he stood.

Turning back to look toward her father's room, she focused on some of the candles she could see and made their flames lick so high up that the walls caught on fire, and soon spread to the drapes, the bed, the floor, and presumably her father.

"May you find your way to Valhalla, father." She looked out the window, and saw a crowd scrambling below, most likely around her lady's maid's body. And there, across the way, still perched on the wrought iron fence, were those two damned ravens. "Odin willing," she added.

Narrowing her eyes, Sigyn turned around and bellowed.

And then, just like that, she had disappeared.


	24. Peggy

* * *

 

Sigyn had teleported.

It was the first time she had ever done something like that and she hadn't even been trying or planning to do so. It seemed that in her heightened rage and grief, the magic took hold and made the executive decision on what to do next for her.

She was still trembling with anger when she reappeared; stranded in some sort of frozen wasteland, which felt was rather appropriate, because that's how she felt on the inside.

Stomping around in the snow, she screamed and she screamed until her throat was raw. She shot energy blasts from her hands in every direction, not caring whether or not those blasts eventually made contact with anything. More often than not it was merely mounds of snow that got blasted and thrown into the air in white, powdery tufts.

"You knew what happened didn't you, Odin?" she snarled. "Heimdall saw it all and told you, and then you sent your precious birds to taunt me. I bet your ravens were watching me after my son was murdered. You know I buried my son, I outlived my child. I wonder how Loki would react when he learns his father kept that information from him." She snickered maliciously. "Oh, my apologies, you're not Loki's father, are you? You took him from Jotunheim as a baby as a means to an end for some sort of peace between the realms in the future. Has that peace happened for you yet, Allfather? Has Loki served his purpose? Do you know peace?" Sigyn let out a mocking laugh. "I certainly do not know it. I thought I was starting to, but no. My father was left stranded here for two long and fell in love with another of those wretched mortals gave up his own life over his grief for her. Cowardly, is it not?"

In all this she heard no responses. The only sound was the wind howling around her.

"Silence, nothingness, and coldness: that is to be my life now." She nodded at no one and nothing in particular. "And I will wait as long as it takes. I will find a way home and I will be with Loki again. Be prepared to answer for your own crimes, Allfather. You will have your day of reckoning."

She walked on for only about two or three yards, before dropping to her knees. The freezing winds bothered her none as it whipped her hair around as if she was stuck in the center of a tornado. Hunching forward, almost mirroring the position she had found her father in, Sigyn places her hands into the snow and cried.

 

* * *

 

For a great many years, Sigyn had lost track of time.

She had practically burrowed herself away, far from mankind, after learning she had teleported herself to Siberia. She found a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai Mountains and made a makeshift home for herself there for the longest time, only venturing out for food when she was hungry. The rest of the time she almost quite literally slept her life away, unable to find the energy or willpower to do anything. She didn't see the point.

Eventually, the world got figuratively smaller and people began to venture toward her beloved cave. Dressed in the same clothes she had been wearing for the better part of a century, with a rat's nest for hair, she abandoned the cave and moved on from it rather begrudgingly.

When she reached civilization, she found the world had changed tremendously in your years detached from it. She had come upon Moscow, looking worse than a peasant. In order to get lost in the crowd and draw no attention to herself, she cast an illusion on her appearance to make her look much better than she actually was until she could find a proper place to clean up and get a hold of newer clothes. She was stunned by the advancements all around her, especially many wheel motor vehicles tumbling around with their engines and horns.

Sigyn was amazed by it all.

Caught up in the busy city around her, she didn't see the errant newspaper floating up with a gust of wind that ended up smacking her in the face. She pulled it away and turned it around and read several of the headlines and bylines, and it seemed there was some sort of a revolution or uprising going on in Russia. There had been several assassinations, including that of the Russian royal family. Sigyn could understand monarchs being assassinated in the midst of war or revolution but to brutally murder their children was unforgivable and off limits, in her opinion. She was sickened by this information, but not surprised. Add that to the fact that apparently all of Europe and the United States were at war with each other, and Sigyn was ready to find another cave to burrow back into.

She found better clothing soon enough and cleaned herself up that same day she read that newspaper. She had easily infiltrated the home of some high ranking Bolshevik official and stole an outfit belonging to his wife, and just as easily snuck away with some money she found in the house.

Because she had left everything behind in Bath, going on ninety-seven years ago, according to that newspaper, Sigyn no longer had the riches she and her father had accrued over the centuries to afford them grand places to live in and identities to effortlessly create for themselves.

She now had to start from scratch if she was going to attempt to immerse back into society; to an extent, anyway. With the money she had, she was able to board a train headed for Berlin. With the simple trick of "sleight of hand", she was able to pick-pocket plenty of people around the German city until she had more than enough to get her on another train. She rather enjoyed the new modes of transportation and would've gladly spent all day, every day, pick-pocketing for money if it meant she could afford to ride trains or travel by automobile whenever she wanted.

Within a few months, she finally returned to England, which was in the throes of post-war celebration while also mourning the loss of so many of their young men. Social mores were changing quite rapidly, along with the style of dress and music. It was a grand time to live in many people and, despite her hardened heart, Sigyn was one of those people.

She sat in parks, watching people walk by; couples young and old, mothers pushing their babies in strollers, children skipping along, men taking the walking paths as shortcuts to work, and even a few vagrants. What she noticed most with many of the young women seemed to be adopting shorter hairstyles. Sigyn had never in her life ever had hair so short and decided there was no better way to fit in with current society than to join their ranks.

Back in the small, one-room flat she rented by the week in Chelsea, Sigyn took a pair of sheers to her long, dark locks and cut her hair just below her ears.

It was a rather freeing experience. She picked the fallen locks up off the floor and tied it all together with a ribbon. Placing it in a small box, she took it with her to the nearest hairdresser where she asked them to take it and give to whoever could make a wig out of it. She obviously had no need for all that hair anymore. She then asked them to clean up her cut job and style it for her.

Afterward, Sigyn went across the street to a dress shop and purchased several new outfits; a few everyday articles of clothing and some dresses for at night when she found herself going to jazz clubs and cabarets. She tried smoking cigarettes and she drank whiskey and danced the Charleston as the music played on. It was a new way for her to lose herself and forget all her pain that wouldn't go away, even if she wanted it to.

After a couple of years, Sigyn had found a nice niche for herself in London. She had even found work as a secretary in a doctor's office for something extra to do with her time. She had also met with a lawyer who, through the grapevine, she learned took on less dignified tasks that weren't technically legal. Since the world was getting smaller because of technological advancements, Sigyn needed paperwork and identification in order to do many things. When the lawyer hemmed and hawed and seemed he wasn't going to take her on for a client, Sigyn had no choice but to show him just exactly what she was capable of by destroying one of his bookshelves with an energy blast.

"I have been around this world for a very, very long time. I have watched your kind crawl its way out of living in only thatch-roofed homes and die from countless plagues. I have witnessed history being made and I have survived it all," she informed him with deadly eyes. "You will do whatever it is I ask of you, or I will snap your neck like a twig and find someone else who can." She paused and he swallowed back a large lump in his throat. "Am I perfectly clear?"

"Cr-crystal," he stuttered.

"Good boy," she said to the man who was quite obvious in his mid to late forties, and then patted him on the head to further put him in his place. "You will provide me with proper identification and birth certificates and any other official-looking paperwork I might need, whenever I need it. You will continue to do so until you retire from this profession, or die; whichever comes first. You will also take on a younger man who you will train in your to take over your position when you are incapable of doing it anymore; that is, if you don't have such a man already. When that time comes, I will demand of him the same things I demand of you, until I would no longer require such services."

Sigyn stopped pacing and sat down in the leather chair across from the lawyer's desk.

"Again, I ask, am I perfectly clear?"

"Y-yes," he mumbled.

"Speak up, child."

"Yes, ma'am," he repeated, much louder and more precise.

"Good."

Sigyn smiled at him with a devil-may-care twinkle in her eye.

 

* * *

 

By the mid-1920s, Sigyn was still in London and considerably content with it.

She had made one trip back to Bath a short time before to find out what happened in the aftermath of her father's death, when she killed her lady's maid and the valet and then set the place on fire. According to a local historian Ludwig von Offenheimer's home had been set ablaze by the lady's maid. Police investigation determined she had gone mad and killed Ludwig, his daughter Anna and then the valet and, upon realizing what she had done, threw herself out the second story window to her death, but not before setting the house on fire, starting in Ludwig's bedroom. When Sigyn had asked how it was known that Ludwig's daughter had died, the historian had said, according to official records and eyewitness statements that were given, the daughter was never seen leaving the house and it was assumed she perished in the flames, although no body was found.

Sigyn visited the house, standing outside of it and looking up at the structure which would've been long since repaired following the fire and looked no different from the other terraced houses on either side of it. She was tempted to sweet-talk the current owner into letting her inside so that she might look around, but when she really thought on it she knew it would be unbearable to have to recall those memories. It would've been like going back to the castle in Nagold after her son had been murdered there.

There were just certain places in this world that would remain off limits to her. Entering inside the home on Royal Crescent was one of them now.

It was the summer of 1926 when Sigyn felt her life on earth had suddenly come full circle.

She was at the doctor's office in which she was working when a father and his whimpering daughter came in. Sigyn watched as the father leaned over to the girl's level and ushered for her to take a seat in one of the chairs in the waiting room before he approached Sigyn's desk.

"Hello," he smiled pleasantly. "Is the doctor in? We don't have a telephone to call for him to come to us so I had to bring her here." The father gestured to his daughter who was holding her wrist very gingerly and had tear-stained cheeks.

"The doctor is in, but he's with a patient at the moment," Sigyn replied. "What's the matter with your daughter?"

"She tripped down the last few steps on the stairs and I don't know if she broke her wrist or if it's just a sprain."

Sigyn stood up from the desk and opened a filing cabinet where she took out a blank form and then sat back down with it. Grabbing up a fountain pen, she looked up at the father.

"What's your daughter's name?"

"Margaret Carter."

"Peggy," the little girl grumbled. "I prefer Peggy."

The father looked back at his daughter and smirked. "I know, sweetheart, but the nice lady needs your full name because she's filling out an official form for the doctor."

"Her date of birth?"

"The 9th of April, 1919," replied the father.

Sigyn smiled slightly at the image of Peggy sitting in the chair, kicking her legs back and forth since she couldn't reach the ground, while making whining noises, but wasn't actually crying. The girl seemed more annoyed by her injury than actually upset from the pain. Setting the form and the pen down, Sigyn swiveled in her chair to face the girl's direction.

"Is this your first injury, darling?"

Peggy turned toward Sigyn and nodded. "Yes," she answered. "I'm always very careful, but my laces came undone and I tripped on them."

"Well, that's not your fault, is it? The person you made your shoes created faulty shoelaces. If they had done their job properly, the laces would've stayed tied like they're supposed to, correct?"

Looking at her father first, Peggy then looked at Sigyn and nodded. "Yes?"

Sigyn smiled. "Exactly." She then beckoned for the girl to come over to her. "Come here and let me take a look at your wrist."

Peggy hopped off the chair and walked over; stretching her arm out to present her wrist. Gently, Sigyn took hold of Peggy's upper arm with one hand while the other hand carefully held Peggy's wrist which was considerably swollen. Slowly, she bent Peggy's hand upward. At the girl's wince, Sigyn stopped; then, just as slowly, bent the hand back down.

"How bad does it hurt, on a scale of one to ten? One being not at all and ten being you would rather throw yourself off a cliff than deal with this pain."

Peggy giggled a bit. "Five or six?"

Sigyn nodded. "This is definitely not a break; just a sprain. It will heal on its own as long as you don't move it for the next couple of days. Keep it rested on a pillow."

"Are you a doctor, too?" Peggy wondered.

"No, I'm just the secretary." Sigyn looked away from the girl and up at her father. "I've seen plenty of patients come into this office for different injuries or ailments, and Dr. Aynes always charges more than his expertise is actually worth. Between you and me, he's a bit of a crook that way. Something as minor as this doesn't need his attention and isn't worth your money. I'll grab some gauze and wrap your daughter's wrist up and she'll be good as new in a few days."

Peggy's father smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, very much."

Sigyn shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing."

She stood up once more, balling the form up in her hands and throwing it away in the waste basket, and then opening up a cabinet that was locked that she had a key to. She removed a bottle of aspirin and a roll of gauze and a safety pin before sitting back down in her chair. She passed the bottle of aspirin off ot the father.

"Give her one every four or five hours over the next two days. Hide them in your pocket, though, in case the doctor walks out as you're leaving," Sigyn advised, setting down the gauze and pin on the desk. Turning her body, she placed her hands on either side of Peggy's shoulders and pulled her closer. "Alright, I'm just going to wrap this gauze around your hand and wrist. It'll keep it stiff so it will be difficult to move. It'll help it heal, alright?"

Peggy nodded.

As Sigyn wrapped the gauze around the girl's wrist, she occasionally studied her face and smiled. "You remind me a lot of someone I once knew."

"A friend?" Peggy asked.

"My best friend."

"What happened to her?"

"She died, but it was a long time ago."

Peggy frowned. "Were you sad when she died?"

"Peggy," her father muttered in a chastising tone.

Sigyn shook her head and smiled up at him before reaching for some scissors to cut the gauze. "It's alright." Looking back at Peggy, Sigyn nodded. "I was very sad, but, as I said, it was a long time ago and the pain of losing her doesn't hurt anymore. I still miss her a great deal, though. She was more like a sister to me, really."

"What was her name?"

"Astrid."

Peggy's father chuckled slightly, causing Sigyn to peer up at him after she pinned the gauze together. "Sorry," he apologized. "I've just been looking into my lineage in recent years and, according to a church marriage record in Cambridge, dating back to the early 13th century, there was an ancestor of mine named Astrid Fynch who married a man named Henry Holcombe who was a local stone mason. I just find that interesting; the name, that is. You rarely ever hear of the name Astrid in present times or in history books."

Sigyn seemed dumbfounded for a moment, looking between father and daughter. She remembered the name Astrid Fynch. Her namesake Siggie, who she had brought to England with her, had married a man named George Fynch and their eldest daughter had been named Astrid.

What were the chances?

Sigyn cupped Peggy's face in her hands and smiled; her heart warming up slightly after too many decades and centuries of darkness and pain. How strange it was to her that she would be taking care of _her_ Astrid's descendent, more than seven hundred years later and that an ancestor and their descendent would look damn near identical. This father and daughter duo had come from the line of Mary, Astrid's daughter, and was the only line she had originally bothered keeping tabs on, but lost track of over the last few centuries. James' line was long dead to her, both literally and figuratively. Mary's, however, had found its way back into Sigyn's path, as if by fate.

"You are a beautiful girl, Peggy Carter, and I think it's safe to say you come from a long line of strong and beautiful women," she remarked. "If you keep a wary eye on errant shoelaces and the like, I daresay you will grow up to be just as beautiful and strong, as well as clever and brave, because this world needs women like that." Sigyn gave Peggy a wink. "Promise me you'll take good care of yourself, because I don't want to see you back in this office, ever."

Peggy smiled and nodded. "I promise."

"Oh, and if any boys ever tell you that you cannot do what they can do, or if they push you down for whatever reason, you get back up on your feet and show them who's the real boss."

"Who?" Peggy seemed confused.

Poking the girl gently in the chest, Sigyn replied, "You are."

"I don't think I want to be the boss. I want to be a mommy."

Peggy's father chuckled again. "Mommy _is_ the boss." He then looked appreciatively at Sigyn again. "Thank you again for all of this. We truly owe you one." Sigyn shrugged it off once more. "I would like to repay you somehow for this kindness. Perhaps you would like to come over for dinner? My wife is a marvelous cook."

"I thank you for the offer, but I must decline. Perhaps we'll cross paths again in time and maybe I'll reconsider then."

He nodded, and then offered her his hand. "My name is Harrison Carter and my wife is Amanda, by the way, in case you ever want to look us up. We live over in Walham Green, on New Kings Road."

"It was nice meeting you Harrison, Peggy," Sigyn looked between the two.

Harrison turned to leave with his daughter, when he stopped and asked, "We didn't catch your name."

"Because I didn't offer it," she replied impishly. "It's Lillian Palmer," she added, giving him the current name she was going by.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, too, Lillian."

Harrison smiled, Peggy waved, and they both left the office. Within seconds, Dr. Aynes walked out of his office with the patient he'd been examining, giving the man some final instructions and then he asked Sigyn to see to finishing the paperwork and seeing to the man's payment; the price the doctor had written discreetly on a piece of paper he handed to her.

When the doctor retreated back into his office, Sigyn only charged the man in front of her for half what the doctor had proposed.

 

* * *

 

Over the next few years, Sigyn kept her eye on Harrison and his family from afar. Mostly she kept tabs on Peggy. The family had moved away from Walham Green to Lambeth in South London and, in 1930s, Peggy had started to attend St. Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls. By that time, however, Sigyn had chosen it was time to end her current identity and adopt a new one. With the help of her begrudging lawyer, she became Elsa Schweizer and moved to Berlin in the summer of 1933.

As Elsa, she found a nice apartment on Almstadtstraße, near a café, and found work as a secretary once more, but this time for an ambitious physicist named Johann Schmidt, who would sometimes talk to her about his interest in Norse mythology and his belief that maybe it wasn't all myth and the stories were based on fact, and that whatever magic the Norse gods had was just the oldest science ever known.

She was amused by how on the nose he was and chose to casually add fuel to the fire by agreeing with him and insisting he pursue those theories of his.

The following year he came into his lab after attending the opera the night before at Deutsches Opernhaus where he told "Elsa" he had met Adolf Hitler, the Führer. He had told Hitler about his theories and the Hitler had seemed intrigued, suggesting a meeting be set up between them to discuss such things together. Schmidt said Ernst Kaufmann, head of the Sturmabteilung (SA)'s Special Weapons Division, had threatened to kill him if he ever approached Hitler again, but was then approached by Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the elite Nazi paramilitary unit that served as Hitler's body guard. Himmler was just as interested in Schmidt's ideas, and recruited him into the SS.

Schmidt, sensing "Elsa" to be more than just a pretty face, soon promoted her away from desk work to being one of his lab assistants.

Sigyn was there beside him, experiencing firsthand his rise to the rank of Obergruppenführer (Lieutenant general), and she unwittingly assisted him in forming his own branch of the SS, which he named HYDRA.

By 1939, Sigyn had made casual mention of "hearing rumor" of one of Odin's artifacts that was "lost on earth centuries ago". She knew of the Tesseract but never knew the full extent of its power. Either way, she figured she had nothing left to lose by passing along such information to Schmidt. She had no one left on earth she truly loved or cared about and she was banned from ever seeing Loki again. What did any of it really matter anymore?

However, after Nazi Germany invaded Poland and World War II began, and after learning about the concentration camps that had been set up to starve and basically slaughter innocent men and their families just because of who they were, something in Sigyn soured.

She could understand war, because she had experienced it time and time again, but she could not understand genocide.

After Schmidt had injected himself with the first, unstable version of scientist Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, Sigyn found herself a reason to leave the man's side. While the serum worked, it came with a cost. His face was burnt and deformed, making it red, looking like skull. While he lay writhing on the ground in pain, Sigyn took her leave of him, stealing away in the night. Concentrating hard enough, Sigyn was able to teleport herself once again.

This time, she wound up in London again. She met with her new lawyer (as her first one had died a few years earlier of a heart attack) and had him create a new identity for her. Armed with a new, fake birth certificate and passport, Sigyn sailed across the Atlantic Ocean for the United States which was removed from the war.

Not for long, though.

Almost a year and a half later, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked and President Roosevelt declared the US would finally enter the war.

Sigyn was living in New York City at the time as an American citizen named Millie Thorne who was supposed to have been born in England, raised in Philadelphia and had now come to make something of herself in the big city. By way of illusion and persuasion, Sigyn was able to infiltrate and become an agent in the Strategic Scientific Reserve (S.S.R.) which was the top secret Allied war agency during the war, created by President Roosevelt. She did this solely because, through contacts, she knew Peggy Carter had grown up and was working for British Secret Intelligence, and been recently assigned as a liaison from the British government to help the Americans combat against the Nazis.

Sigyn got to meet Peggy again, who now looked like Astrid's twin and felt the need to befriend her and not just watch her from afar anymore. When Peggy remarked that she looked familiar, Sigyn claimed she had always been told she looked like "her mother" who had moved to Philadelphia with her stepfather when she was a young girl. She chose that lie in case Peggy recognized her as being Lillian Palmer.

And she did.

"There was this woman who took care of my sprained wrist when I was seven. Her name was Lillian, I remember, and she helped us out in a time when my father was in-between jobs. I think she sensed he didn't really have the means to pay for a doctor's visit." Peggy was sitting at a desk across from Sigyn, both in their brown SSR uniforms. "You look so much like her, or at least how I remember she looked."

"That was quite possibly my mother," Sigyn lied. "My mother worked as a secretary in a doctor's office then to support us after my father died. She went by her maiden name and pretended to be single and motherless because the doctor wasn't about to hire a widowed mother. Her name was Lillian Thorne but she went by Lillian Palmer."

Peggy's brown eyes widened. "Yes! Yes, that was her name." She smiled. "Wow, what a small world."

"It really is."

"How is your mother now?"

"Oh, she died a few years ago. She fell ill, but she didn't suffer long."

"I'm so sorry, but I am glad she didn't suffer long as well. She was a kind woman."

Sigyn smirked.

She learned that Peggy had infiltrated Castle Kaufmann, the headquarters of the Johann Schmidt, in November of 1940, not long after Sigyn had left. Disguised as a maid Eva, Peggy freed the captured Abraham Erskine. Fortunately for Sigyn, she had never crossed paths with Erskine during her time with Schmidt, so crossing his path at the U.S. Army's secret base in Brooklyn under a pawnshop was never an issue. They had never met before then, while he was working on Project Rebirth.

Sigyn wasn't present when Steve Rogers was created the first and only super soldier and when Erskine was assassinated by one of Schmidt's spies. She was at home that day, in her small apartment in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. It was considerably smaller than most homes she had lived in throughout the last many centuries, but it was definitely bigger than her flat in London and an obvious step up from living in a cave. She had a bedroom, a kitchen with enough room for a table to eat at, a living room and a bathroom which she didn't have to share with anyone else on her floor, unlike in London.

It was nice, it was simple and it was all she needed these days. It was just her. With both her son and her father gone, the only thing that kept her from going completely insane anymore was the fact that Peggy was descended from Astrid and looked exactly like her. Sigyn held onto that nugget and used it as a reason to befriend Peggy.

Despite working her way into the SSR and "being on the side of the good guys," Sigyn couldn't shake the darkness that hung around in her mind.

She read the newspapers about what was happening around the globe during the war, she got the reports firsthand from the likes of Colonel Phillips and Peggy, and she watched the propaganda films that were shown before movies were shown in the theaters. She knew what the things that the Nazis were doing were horrendous and unthinkable atrocities.

However, Sigyn had seen people slaughtered on both sides during too many wars. She was literally living in cave during the last World War but knew enough that the current one was much worse, because the artillery was more advanced and so was the technology. A new branch of the military was even created: the Air Force. Both sides used airplanes to attack with gun fire or drop bombs. It was pure destruction and chaos and something about it all no longer bothered Sigyn.

She once felt pity and sadness for those young men who lost their lives in battle and even the innocent civilians who were mere collateral damage.

Not anymore.

Even the innocent ones were destroying the world. There was garbage in the streets, violence inside the homes, and the beginnings of pollution in the air from factories and fumes from automobiles.

Sigyn wondered how much longer the world could last if the humans kept up what they were doing.

 

* * *

 

Never actually going out on missions like Peggy did, Sigyn stayed back on US soil during the remainder of the war. She did her duty in underground bunkers or secret bases like the one in Brooklyn under the pawn shop.

She had met James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes and Steve 'Captain America' Rogers only a handful of times, and they were each brief moments, so she never bothered to get to know them better. And she really didn't care to. She felt little sorrow when Bucky fell to his apparent death in Bavaria and when Rogers sacrifice himself to destroy Schmidt's weapons of mass destruction by crashing Schmidt's plane into the Arctic so it wouldn't destroy New York instead.

She did, however, feel sorry for Peggy. Sigyn realized how much Peggy had fallen in love with the Captain and now mourned his death.

After the war, Peggy moved to Brooklyn to continue working at the SSR. One evening, Sigyn asked Peggy out for a drink to help take her mind off the loss, believing the young woman needed it. They sat together at a table in the back of a bar not far from the pawn shop, wearing civilian attire, while nursing glasses of bourbon. Sigyn didn't bother to initiate conversation to get Peggy to talk; she just waited until Peggy was ready.

They were probably there a good ten or fifteen minutes before the Englishwoman spoke up.

"Have you had any issues with Flynn?"

That wasn't the topic Sigyn thought would be brought up. "Not particularly."

Peggy sat back and sighed. "He is so patronizing, and he only uses me for code-breaking and analysis because apparently he believes that I, as a woman, should not be sent into the field." She looked across at Sigyn and frowned. "I was in the field quite often during the war and I held my own every time while he was nothing more than a pencil pusher."

Sigyn smirked. "I bet the most action he's ever seen was when he had some poor female underneath him," she joked, which garnered a laugh out of Peggy. "And even then the action was probably far and few between."

"No doubt," Peggy smiled and nodded.

"Are you alright, aside from Flynn?"

Peggy nodded again. "I will be." She ran an index finger around the rim of her now empty glass, in constant circles. "I remember your mother told me something that I never forgot."

Sigyn raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what was it she said?"

"Just that she believed I would grow into a strong and beautiful woman and I would be clever and brave and I promised her I would make sure I made that happen."

"Do you think you're strong, beautiful, clever and brave?"

Peggy smiled. "Well, I don't always feel beautiful and clever, but I force myself to be strong and brave. Or, at least, I pretend to be."

"Well, you are all those things. Men like Flynn will someday soon be kissing the ground you walk on and taking their orders only from women like you."

"Like us," Peggy corrected.

"No," Sigyn shook her head. "I have no more desire for this life we're leading. The war is over, this particular chapter in my life is over and I think I need to move on to different things soon."

"You're leaving the SSR?"

"I submitted my resignation this evening."

"Are you leaving New York as well?"

Sigyn nodded. "I've always wanted to see California."

Peggy was silent for a while. "Then I shall have to visit you from time to time, and you will have to visit me. We will keep in touch by any means necessary. I will always be just a letter or a phone call away."

Her friendship with Peggy was nowhere near as close as it had been with Astrid, but it had the prospects of becoming equivalent, thanks in part to modern technology. Sigyn couldn't be bothered much by the modern world and felt it was heading to its inevitable destruction in centuries to come because of such technology, but it had its moments where it actually provided a useful service.

Sigyn ordered them another round and she held her glass up in a sort of toast and Peggy mirrored her.

"What are we toasting to?"

"To strong, beautiful, clever, brave women who love and have loved good men and to a friendship that spans the ages," Sigyn replied.

"I will drink to that." Peggy clinked her glass against Sigyn's.

Both took a sip and smirked at each other, falling silent for a few moments.

"Promise me you'll live a long, healthy life after I've moved away," Sigyn said before taking another sip of her bourbon.

"Promise me we'll stay friends till the end."

Both women smiled at each other.

"Till the end," they said at the same time, clinked their glasses again and then chuckled heartily.


	25. Plans

* * *

 

Sigyn settled into Southern California by the end of the 1940s; purchasing a bungalow in Pasadena and keeping to herself. However, she made plans on how to perpetuate her identity so that she wouldn't need to always changes homes. She longed for one place to stay in for many, many years and she had worked out a way to do that. She had wired the lawyer in London to let him know his services would no longer be needed. She then set about finding a new lawyer, with shady morals in Los Angeles, and it was incredibly easy to do so. Sigyn found Herschel Lieberman, a Jewish man who had fled Poland prior to the German invasion at the start of the war. He had made it to New York in 1940 and then traveled on to the West Coast where he settled in 1944 and set up his practice. He had a very small client base, but those he did have paid him a pretty penny to do things most other lawyers wouldn't.

For Sigyn, she needed a lawyer closer to where she was who could provide forged documents like birth certificates, death certificates, passports and schooling records to set herself up with a fake life and legacy.

The plan was to live out the next several decades, continuing to be Millie Thorne, and then in a few years' time she would require a birth certificate to be filed for an imaginary daughter; an identity she would eventually assume as well. When the "daughter" identity was of age, she would go out into the world with it and Millie would retreat into the home, taking on no visitors, until one day Millie would "die"; thus the need for a death certificate.

Sigyn would keep this up for as long as she could pull it off.

In 1954, whenever she went out into the world, she began to pad the front of her clothing to make it look like she was pregnant until one day she went out of town for a few days and when she returned, she was cradling a doll swaddled in blankets in case any neighbors were watching.

It's not as if she really needed to go through any of this trouble. In truth, it was a fun ruse, for the most part, and it gave her something to do along with furthering her future plans. She refused visitors when they came to call on her to see the supposed baby and when she left the home she hired a struggling actress to come housesit and do some light cleaning for her. Sigyn also instruct that the girl to deny any visitors and, if she was stopped by neighbors about who she was, to say she was "the help" and nothing more.

Eventually, Sigyn realized this plan of hers had its faults. People might find it weird if there was no child playing in the yard every so often. So, Sigyn ventured away from Los Angeles, in the early hours of the morning, in the car she had bought years earlier, and found herself in Barstow. She drove along the dusty roads in search of the most dilapidated home and when she came upon it, she found a young mother in the yard with two small children underfoot while she hung wash on a clothesline. Sigyn killed the engine and stepped out of the car, approaching the home quietly and watchfully.

Sigyn soon made her presence known, introducing herself as Millie Thorne and then cut to the chase by asking the young mother what her financial situation was. The young woman, Crystal, admitted she was struggling. Her husband had died two years before just before the birth of her youngest child, a daughter named Louise and taking care of both children was very hard on her own with no support; especially financial. Sigyn assumed as much and placed an offer on the table. She would give Crystal a monthly stipend to maintain a comfortable living for the next ten years five or so years on the grounds that she give up temporary custody to her youngest.

At first Crystal protested, as any good mother would, and as Sigyn had expected her to. Then Sigyn presented the details to the plan.

Louise would live with Sigyn as her daughter. The girl wouldn't want for anything and be well taken care of until around her seventh birthday. She would then return to her mother and brother and Sigyn would set up a small trust for both children for when they were of age to use toward an education or putting toward their own home, or whatever they wanted to do with it. To show Crystal she meant what she said, Sigyn handed her a brown package.

Crystal warily accepted it and when she opened it, found a few thousand dollars in her hands.

Sigyn promised she would bring Louise back for frequent visits during holidays and summers, and Crystal could write as much as she wanted. Crystal then asked if she could have some time to think about it, but Sigyn replied she had thirty minutes and would wait in her car for an answer. Sigyn took the money back and said Crystal could have it back if Louise was brought to her car at the end of the thirty minutes to leave with her.

It only took twenty-two minutes, Sigyn counted, and Crystal was at the passenger side door with a crying Louise while Crystal's son, who was no more than five, looked on with curious eyes.

"You promise to keep her safe and love her as your own, and you'll take care of my son and me?"

Sigyn nodded. "That is what I said." She placed her arm on the back of the front seat and gestured to the flimsy child's car seat beside her. She had purchased it at a department store the day before she had left the Los Angeles area.

Crystal hesitated. "Okay."

Smirking, Sigyn reached across and opened the car door. She let Crystal pick her daughter up and place her in the car seat. Louise stared with watery eyes at her mother and grasped for her.

"Go with this nice lady. She's going to take care of you now, and love you like mama does."

The girl was so upset, so Sigyn placed a hand on her head and rubbed her fingers soothingly like she did with Narfi so many centuries ago. "Shh, darling girl. All is well. Close your eyes and rest a while."

In mere seconds, Louise's eyes drooped and she fell silent as her head rolled to one side. Light snoring purred from between the girl's lips and her mother looked across at Sigyn with interest.

"How did you do that?"

"I had a son once," she replied, vaguely. "That always worked with him."

Sigyn could tell Crystal assumed they were both the same age and wondered what happened to this supposed son. Sigyn would always have sadness in her eyes from losing Narfi, no matter how much time had passes, and she was sure Crystal could see it and therefore assumed any child Sigyn had must've died young. Perhaps now Crystal felt she was helping another woman fill the void left by the loss of a child by lending her own to the woman. Both women knew the situation would work well. Sigyn had the need of a child only for a short time, and Crystal couldn't feasibly care for both children on her own. It was only a matter of time before the state showed up and took both children away from her. This was a temporary solution to both of their problems.

Crystal leaned in and kissed her sleeping daughter's head. "Goodbye, sweetpea. I'll see you soon." She looked back at her son. "Say goodbye to your sister, Marty."

"Where's she goin', mama?"

"To live with Miss Millie who's gonna take care of her."

"Is Louise going away forever like daddy?"

"No," Sigyn piped up. "Your sister will come back to live with you in a few years. And she'll visit, too. Right now she's going to live with me so I can teach her girl stuff. Special girls get to do stuff like this, and your sister is the most special girl there is."

Crystal smiled sadly and then stepped back with her own tears stinging her eyes. Sigyn reach down into her lap and grabbed the bundle of money up and handed it over.

"Think of this as a down payment. What you will begin receiving from me every month one be quite as much but you will definitely not need to worry about keeping food on the table, a roof over your heads and clothes on your backs. It will be enough to maintain and nice life and even a little extra to treat yourself from time to time. Maybe your son will want some new toy," Sigyn remarked. "You'll be able to get it for him now."

"Just swear on your life you will take care of my girl and she will be treated well."

"She will be as my own, and I fight fiercely to protect what is mine."

With little more to be said, Sigyn started the engine and pulled the car away from the rundown home, and away from Barstow. That evening, she returned home to Pasadena with Louise in tow, and who was still asleep. She carried the girl inside and laid her down on the small bed in the extra bedroom, but left the door open in case Louise got scared.

Sigyn then sat down and waited in the living room, waiting for the inevitable crying to begin when the child awoke.

It happened almost two hours later.

Louise wandered out into the living room, rubbing her eyes, confused with where she was and calling for her mama. Sigyn stood up and went over to the girl, crouching down to her level.

"I'm going to be your mama now, darling. You're going to stay with me and we're going to have a marvelous time."

"No."

Sigyn smirked. "Yes." She ruffled the girl's brown locks and then lifted her up. Louise wriggled quite a bit but Sigyn was too strong for the girl to get away. "You're name isn't Louise anymore while you live here. The birth certificate I had Herschel file two years ago was for a girl named Mary, so Mary you will be," she added, more to herself. Louise was still too young to completely register what was going on.

It took some time, but eventually Louise/Mary warmed to Sigyn. After a few weeks she seemed alright with calling her mama and answering to the name of Mary instead. It was rather easy because the girl was impressionable. Soon enough, Sigyn took Mary out into the world. She took her to parks to play, to stores to buy her clothes and set up playdates with other children in the neighborhood.

Often Sigyn was asked about the father, since she had lived in the house alone prior to "getting pregnant" and no man was ever seen coming or going after that. So, Sigyn created the story that her husband had been presumed dead after the war and then she found he was still alive, but living with amnesia as a John Doe in a home for wounded veterans back east. When he regained his memory, she was contacted and she went to him. They "reconnected" but on the drive back they were in a car accident in which Sigyn sustained minor injuries but her husband had been thrown from the vehicle and died. A short time later she discovered she was with child. The other mothers offered their belated condolences and expressed how sad it was that father and daughter would never know each other.

Eventually Mary was talking in full sentences and in no time at all she was off to kindergarten at the local elementary school. Sigyn had grown quite attached to the girl and lamented the day she would have to give her back to her real mother and was tempted not to. However, she knew all too well the pain of losing a child and couldn't do that to another woman.

At the end of summer in 1962, Sigyn had to sit an eight-year-old Mary down and tell her the truth of who she really was. Sigyn had gone back on her word to an extent over the years, in regard to one of the promises she made Crystal. She never came back to Barstow for Mary to visit her real mother and her brother. She did, however, send regular updates by letter and upped the amount of money she sent to Crystal as reparation. She sent the letters from a PO Box and the letters she received back were angry at first, but eventually Crystal cooled off, coming to an understanding that ping-ponging her daughter back and forth could be distressing.

Mary no longer remembered her real mother or her brother, because she had been too young when she left them, and she knew herself as only Mary and not Louise. So, when Sigyn told her the truth, the girl found it all hard to believe. To her it was impossible to believe Sigyn wasn't her mother. She was all she had ever known. Sigyn had let Mary know of the arrangement she had made with Crystal six years earlier and how it was time to take Mary home to Barstow, but Mary would hear none of it. She proclaimed she didn't care who her birth mother was because, to her, Sigyn was her _real_ mother. She was the one who had raised her; the one who kissed her boo-boos, told her stories before she went to sleep at night and checked for monster under the bed. She didn't want to live in Barstow; she wanted to stay with Sigyn.

Sigyn had not factored in the attachment going both ways, so she suggested Mary come with her to Barstow to visit and see her birth mother and her brother, and then decide if she still wanted to stay with her. If she did, she had to tell Crystal as much.

"She is still your birth mother, no matter what. She deserves to see you and hold you in her arms again," Sigyn commented. "If after all that you still feel as though you cannot stay there with them, I think we should make it our mission to visit every summer or have them come here to visit as well."

Mary made a sour face. She was none too excited by any of that. "Fine," she begrudgingly agreed.

Thus, to Barstow they went and the meeting between mother and daughter was considerably awkward. Mary approached Crystal as the stranger she was to her, and even Crystal didn't seem to know how to act. They were strangers to each other. It seemed that the years apart and lack of contact and placed a serious wedge between the relationship Crystal had previously had with her daughter. Thanks to Sigyn, Crystal was able to afford a nicer home with her son Marty, who was eleven and seemed to have turned into quite a spoiled brat being more or less his mother's only child. Crystal had even remarried and apparently told her husband her daughter had died. So when Sigyn showed up with Mary, Crystal was considerably surprised. She had given up thinking she would ever see her daughter again, and somehow she was okay with that.

"My husband doesn't know about our arrangement. He thinks my Louise died years ago. I even keep an urn filled with dirt in a curio cabinet that he thinks is Louise's cremated ashes." Crystal had warned when Sigyn and Mary had arrived. Crystal's husband, Hank, wasn't home from work yet so she had to lay some ground rules, so to speak. "He never wanted any children of his own and Marty has been more than enough for us and you have taken care of Louise as you promised, and she clearly loves you as her mother…" Crystal looked over at her daughter who was leaning against the car, kicking at some stones. "When Hank comes home, I'm gonna introduce you as my first husband's cousin and daughter. You can stay for dinner, but not beyond that."

Sigyn was rather put off by this change in Crystal. How could she not want her own daughter back?

"Did you know that little girl over there didn't even want to come here but I convinced her to because I thought she should get to know you, and because I thought you would ecstatic to have her back?" Sigyn narrowed her eyes. "I can see now she was nothing more than a burdened I lifted off your shoulders and you have been living easy on the lifestyle I've been helping to fund." She watched as Crystal looked guiltily to the ground and didn't bother to make any excuses. "You obviously don't want your own child back anymore and that astounds me, because I would give anything to have my actual son back. Every day I still grieve his loss. Your daughter is alive and well and here before you and it is no sweat off your back. She might as well actually be dead, because she clearly has been to you, if only figuratively."

"I'm sorry," Crystal attempted to apologize.

Sigyn scoffed. "Oh, I'm not the one you should say that to." She turned and looked back at Mary. "Darling, come say goodbye to your birth mother."

"You can still stay for dinner," Crystal insisted. "You drove all this way."

"It wasn't that long of a drive."

Mary walked up beside Sigyn, leaning into her as she looked up at Crystal and attempted to smile. "Do I have to hug her?" she whispered to Sigyn.

"Only if you want to."

Mary shook her head. Sigyn wasn't sure if Crystal heard her or not and she didn't really care. Mary waved politely and said it was nice to meet Crystal offered her hand to shake instead, which Crystal took. The girl then turned and skipped off toward the car and hopped in, not bothering to wave goodbye to her brother who had been making unpleasant faces at her the entire time. She just sat in the car, waiting patiently for Sigyn to join her.

"I'll continue to send letters about how she is doing, but they'll only come once a year at Christmas." Sigyn jiggled the car keys in her hands and moved to head toward the car. When she reached the driver's side door and opened it, she stopped and looked over the top of it, toward Crystal. "Oh, and one other thing," she announced. "I will no longer be funding your lifestyle."

"But the agreement was that you would pay me monthly for keeping Louise."

"What I said is that I would pay you monthly to keep her for five or six years. It's been six years. When I returned her, the payments would stop but you don't want her anymore, so you forfeit the payments. Also, Louise is dead now. You said so yourself; you have fake ashes in an urn. I have legal documents for a daughter named Mary Thorne." Sigyn gestured toward the girl in the car who she knew was listening. "She has a school record, and friends. We have neighbors who know her and see her every day."

"What if I changed my mind and I wanted her back."

"You can't have her," Sigyn replied nonchalantly with a smirk. "Not only do have the legal means to prove she is mine and prevent you from taking her from me, I can also stop you this way."

Without warning, Sigyn aimed her right hand out at Crystal and blasted green energy at her, knocking her down off her feet. Sigyn laughed as she ignored Crystal's cry of shock and subsequent sputtering of expletives. She slid into the driver seat and closed the door and looked at Mary who was looking back at her with wonder in her eyes.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" the girl asked.

Sigyn turned on the car and just smiled.

 

* * *

 

So, plans had changed.

Originally, Sigyn would've returned Mary. She, then, would've told anyone who asked that her daughter had gone abroad to boarding school, and then on to college after that.

Now, though, Mary remained with her.

Unlike her time as a mother to Narfi, this time as a mother to Mary flew by. Sigyn had revealed the truth of herself to the girl after they returned from Barstow but made Mary swear on her life never to tell anyone. Over the years, Sigyn had also used illusions once more to make her appear to be aging.

By 1972, according to her own faked birth certificate, she was supposed to be fifty-four years old, so she added crow's feet at her eyes and gray to her hair, as well as a few wrinkles and ages spots to her hands. Mary was eighteen now and had grown into a lovely young woman who had just graduated high school and was heading off to college in San Francisco.

Not wanting to be separated from the girl she considered her daughter, Sigyn put her Pasadena home up for sale and moved north, buying a new home in Napa, tucked away amongst the trees so that she didn't have to be bothered by neighbors this time around. Herschel Lieberman had since retired and passed his law practice off to his son, who took over handling Sigyn's rare and somewhat underhand requests. She never needed to work, having found a stockbroker to help her invest in several companies, and most of her investments over the years had proved fruitful. Her best investments since the early 1950s had been General Motors, General Foods, Proctor & Gamble, McDonald's, and Coca-Cola. She was living comfortably, albeit alone, while Mary was at school at UC Berkeley.

In 1974, after only two years, Mary had decided to drop out of college because she had fallen in love with a man name Darren and the pair was going to join friends who were going to live as part of a commune in Virginia. When Mary told Sigyn this, she protested, but soon gave in.

Life became quiet and lonely for Sigyn after that.

She had lost track with Peggy sometime back in the '50s and, since she was living alone with no one around her, Sigyn had allowed the illusion of her appearance to drop. She spent her days reading or gardening or watching shows on the television or sleeping.

Without Mary, her days became just as dark as her nights; and not just literally either.

It was the darkness in her mind that began to seep back in, bringing old grief, pain and loss back to the foreground. She cried herself to sleep some nights or would stay awake for days on end to avoid having nightmares of losing Narfi, her father and any mortal friend who had gone before.

She developed a slight malicious streak as well.

When teenagers wandered onto her property and helped themselves to the tomatoes in her garden, instead of just yelling at them to leave like a typical old woman, she cast illusions of wild animals coming after them. Every time it left Sigyn laughing to watch them scream and run away in fear. It was something a bit wicked that amused her.

But the amusement never lasted.

 

* * *

 

In early 1980s, Mary called her and said she was expecting. Sigyn asked Mary to come home and raise the child near her, but Mary was content to do so at the commune with her new partner, Sam. Two months into the pregnancy, Mary miscarried. A year later, the same thing happened. In 1983, however, Mary was able to carry a child to full term, but it was stillborn, having been born with the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck.

Sigyn had been there for the birth and lamented the death as well. Mary took it hardest, and understandably so. Because the commune was living off the grid, Mary's child had no birth certificate and she proposed the idea to Sigyn that she contact her lawyer and create a birth certificate. Mary wanted her daughter to live on, even if only in theory, as Sigyn eventually assumed her identity in the years to come.

After the burial of Mary's baby girl who went unnamed, Mary fell into a depression that lasted several years. Sigyn had flown to Los Angeles to meet with Herschel's son David Lieberman, and have him acquire a birth certificate for a baby girl named Astrid Thorne, born to Mary Thorne and her partner Sam Liddell. She arrived looking like a woman of sixty-five years and when David tried to insist he was taking the practice away from illegal dealings, Sigyn dropped the illusion and threatened him with force while suspending him in mid-air.

It goes without saying that he complied.

Sigyn brought the birth certificate back to Virginia, to the commune for Mary and Sam to file locally, however the duty fell only on Sam's shoulders, who had also been let in on Sigyn's true identity as "an immortal". Mary couldn't be bothered in doing anything and no one understood her grief more than Sigyn, who felt the need to be close to her adopted daughter.

She didn't realize that, after a few years when she decided to go back to Napa to sell the house there, she would be saying goodbye to Mary forever.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn found a realtor who sold the house within two months' time. The same day the sold sticker was plastered over the 'FOR SALE' sign, she received a call from Sam who was crying and mumbling through his words, but he was able to get his message across.

Mary, never recover able to recover from losing her baby, with no help from her last postpartum depression, had gone out into the woods early one morning, climbed a tree and hanged herself from it.

Sigyn's world further shattered.

It felt like everything that had been good in her life was being chipped away like old paint and all that was left was a hollow shell of who she once was and could have been.

She returned to Virginia for the funeral and all she brought with her was a suitcase full of clothes and another full of photo albums from her life with Mary that she wanted to share with Sam who was taking the loss just as hard. Mary had been buried on the commune's property, deep in the woods under a large chestnut tree where she had enjoyed watching squirrels at its base, stuffing chestnuts in their cheeks or eating them right there. Sigyn had given Sam the money and he went into town and ordered a headstone which arrived a few weeks later after he paid the extra Sigyn had also given him to expedite the process.

Many of the commune members were present once more to watch the stone placed over the grave, and after they dispersed, only Sigyn and Sam remained still.

"I need you to do a favor for me, Sam," Sigyn spoke, turning to look at him.

He turned and looked up at her, since she was taller, and nodded. "Anything, ma," he said, referring to her the same way that Mary had.

"In about ten to fifteen years I am going to fake my death, after I acquire a death certificate from my lawyer in LA," she began. "You will file it here, like you did with the birth certificate for your daughter, and then you will have a funeral for Millie Thorne; for me."

"What would you like on your headstone?"

Sigyn shrugged. "I'll leave it up to you."

"What will I tell the others?" he wondered, regarding the other members of the commune.

"I will leave prior to my supposed death. I will then call you, and you will come to me. Tell everyone else I had died of a heart attack or some other nonsense. When you return here, after a few days, do so with an urn filled with dirt or sand. Bury the urn beside Mary. If anyone asks why you are doing so, tell them I wanted to be with my daughter in death. It was my last request. I am going to draw up a will stating anything I own, including stocks, be transferred to my granddaughter Astrid Thorne; which you and I know will be me when I assume the identity. I will then take my leave of this place with my normal appearance."

"You won't be coming back, ever again, will you?"

Sigyn shook her head.

"I don't build bridges once I've crossed them, Sam. I burn them."

 

* * *

 

Fourteen years later, it was the year 2001, the first full year of a new millennium, and Millie Thorne lived no longer.

Millie had traveled to LA to meet with David in early May to acquire her death certificate and a new passport and told him this was her last time dealing with him. She thanked him for his years of assistance by wiring a million dollars into an offshore bank account and giving him the bank account number. She returned to the Virginia commune and placed her death certificate in Sam's hands, kissed his cheek and bid him farewell. Two weeks later she called the commune, altering her voice when someone else answered the phone. When Sam took the call, she reverted to her own voice and told him to meet her in Virginia Beach and bring the photo albums.

He met up with her at the Best Western hotel she was staying in on the beach and delivered the photo albums. She gave him the urn in exchange, filled from sand she had collected days before while walking the beach. She had checked into the hotel under the name of Astrid Thorne using a credit card which was easily acquired, and checked the day after Sam left with the urn. It was her first foray into the world with her new identity, and it was so nice to finally drop he illusion of being an elderly woman who, as of 2001, was supposed to be eighty-three years old.

After hiring a private investigator, she found where Peggy Carter lived and what her phone number was. She called under the pretense of being Millie Thorne's granddaughter and that it was her grandmother's last request she bring some photographs to her "dear friend Peggy to make up for the years they lost touch."

Peggy seemed a bit distracted, and saddened by the apparent passing of Millie, and agreed to meet with Astrid. Sigyn arrived the next day with her photo albums in tow and Peggy stood there on the other side of the door, looking as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Oh my, you look just like your grandmother," an eighty-two year old Peggy said first thing.

Sigyn smiled. "So I've been told," she answered in a Southern American accent. All Asgardians spoke in the same manner as most Englishmen so it would've been strange for Sigyn to speak the same, considering her new identity was supposed to have been born and raised on a commune in Virginia.

"Please, come in," Peggy spoke, stepping aside to let Sigyn by.

Both women convened in the living room, sitting across from each other; Sigyn on the couch and Peggy in what was most likely her favorite chair. Peggy offered to make some tea, which Sigyn said would be lovely. While she waited on her old friend who busied herself in the kitchen, clanking and clattering away with her kettle and a pair of tea cups, Sigyn stood up and looked at all the photographs along the mantel above the fireplace and the photographs that cluttered a credenza on the far side of the room. They were clearly of Peggy's family; the man she eventually married, the children she had with him and even subsequent grandchildren. Several photos contained Peggy in them as well so Sigyn got to see how Peggy looked as the years went by, and how well she had aged; how her hair had gone from dark brown and eventually become the whitish gray it was now.

"You have a beautiful family," Sigyn remarked when Peggy returned with two tea cups in her shaking hands. Sigyn took her cup and sat back down across from Peggy before taking a sip and setting it down on the lace coaster on the coffee table between them. "My grandmother told me often about the friendship you had during the war and her regret over losing touch with you a short time after."

"I regret that as well," Peggy remarked, studying Sigyn carefully. "But as it usually goes, life got in the way. I was busy with my career and starting my family. Those things just took precedence. I suppose your grandmother and I could've tried harder to stay in touch and I wish I could've said goodbye to her. We promised to stay friends till the end."

Sigyn smiled. "I believe you did. Just because you never saw each other in person again, doesn't mean you weren't always in each other's thoughts, and I think that is what counts. True friendships never die."

"How long ago did it happen? Was it recent?"

"About two months ago. It was a heart attack," Sigyn lied. "She quite a busy body and never sought medical treatment for anything that ailed her. I suppose that's why she stayed on at the commune with us after my mother died. Not just to be near me but also because I think living off the grid and more naturally appealed to her."

"Tell me about your grandmother's life. You have her maiden name, I noticed. Did she and your mother never marry?"

"My grandmother never talked about who my mother's father was other than he died just before my mother was born. My mother, Mary, was born in 1954 and raised in Pasadena. Grandma Millie moved to Napa in the early '70s after my mother graduated high school to be close to her while she went to college at UC Berkeley. She stayed there even after my mother dropped out and moved to the commune in Virginia with a former boyfriend. I don't know if she ever had a boyfriend of her own from time to time, but my grandmother never married. She sold her home in Napa and moved to the commune after my mother died, though, to help raise me."

"Was your mother sick?"

"Not by any conventional means," Sigyn responded sadly. "Mar—my mother suffered from postpartum depression after I was born, and since they lived off the grid, she never had the access to medical help that probably could've helped her." Sigyn lifted her tea cup up and took a sip. "She took her life when I was four years old."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Peggy cooed. "It must've been difficult for your father and grandmother. And you, so young and losing your own mother like that."

Sigyn shrugged. "We all moved on."

She then passed the photo albums over to show Peggy the pictures of herself with Mary as Mary grew up and as she gradually aged as well with the help of her illusions. The final picture was the amusing one to Sigyn. Sam had taken it for her and she was posed with one of the teen girls from the commune. Unbeknownst to the teenager, though, Sigyn had cast an illusion over her to make her look like Sigyn's normal, younger self while Sigyn maintained the appearance of an eighty year old woman. Sigyn took the camera and developed the picture and stuck it on the last page.

"There aren't any pictures of you as a child," Peggy noted.

"My commune family wasn't too keen on photographs being taken. My grandmother snuck this one in a few months before she died."

Peggy nodded and ran her fingers over the last photograph. "It's hard to believe it's been almost sixty years since I last saw your grandmother. It feels like eons ago."

"My grandmother actually told me it felt like the years sped past her in the blink of an eye; that a year was like a day to her."

"I suppose it's like that saying: the days are long but the years are short."

Sigyn agreed. "Definitely."

Peggy smirked and passed the albums back to Sigyn. "What are your plans now? Are you going to return to the commune or have you different plans?"

"I'm moving to New York City. I think I am gonna try out going to college."

 

* * *

 

The new plan was to move to New York City and become lost in the crowd. It was such irony, going somewhere that had so many people and be the most alone. That was what Sigyn wanted now. Despite the fortune she had accrued as Millie having transferred seamlessly to her new identity, she chose to live simply and not draw any attention to herself. She found a small apartment in the same Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn that she had live in nearly sixty years before, except this time it was in a different section that was closer to the East River.

She had been sitting on the rooftop of her building the morning of September 11th, enjoying a cup of tea when she felt the presence of a low-flying plane overhead, moving toward Manhattan. She stood up and followed its path with her eyes and curiosity as she watched the plane barrel straight into one of the two Twin Towers. She dropped her tea cup and ran for the rooftop door. She made it down the stairwell and all the way down to the ground floor in a hurry. In the front hall of her building, she rushed past a neighbor who asked 'where the fire was' and Sigyn replied simply that a plane had struck one of the towers, and he followed her out. Sigyn, however, was considerably faster and she ran down the sidewalk, going a few blocks till she reached the water's edge and stared out at the city across the river, alongside other people who had just witnessed the hit.

Sigyn may have gone back and forth about how she felt in regard to humans and humanity over the years, and in that moment she was conflicted. There was no way a plane would just accidently fly into any building like that. It was clearly planned and whoever was behind it was truly evil and deserved a great and just punishment. She sympathized for the poor people stuck on the floors destroyed by the crash and hoped their suffering was brief.

When the second plane hit the second tower, Sigyn felt sick to her stomach, and when the second tower collapse, she felt despair and she wanted to help in some way but didn't know what she could possibly do. The first tower collapsing a short time later and then learning of the attack on the Pentagon and the other plane that was brought down by its passengers to prevent it from flying into the White House was like salt in the wound.

That day, it didn't matter what language you spoke or what country you came from or, in Sigyn's case, what world you came from, a terrorist attack of that caliber felt like a personal attack and there was no way you didn't grieve and cry.

The only thing Sigyn felt she could do in the days and weeks that followed was volunteer her time, helping the Red Cross and the like.

As much as she tried to deny it to herself, Earth had been her home several times longer than Asgard had been and she didn't want to see anyone destroying her home. Earth was a wonderful world, in truth. It was just the people in it that usually made her detest the place.

If there was just some way to unify them all, she was certain the world would be a more peaceful and enjoyable place.

What good was all this supposed freedom if no one was safe?

 

* * *

 

Sigyn had spent hundreds of years reading all varieties of subjects to help pass the time but the things that interested her, that seemed to be ever evolving with something new always being discovered and how it all worked, were science and the stars. In the wake of the September 11th attacks, there seemed to be a shift in the world and she felt it was time to be more involved in it somehow. After the New Year, she applied to Columbia University's Astronomy and Astrophysics Department and was accepted, starting classes in the fall semester of 2002.

It was a strange, new personal journey she was on. She had never matriculated into society like this before. Technically, she had never attended any form of school before in her entire life. Growing up on Asgard she had been tutored. She thrived in the collegiate atmosphere and it once again gave her something to keep her preoccupied and not thinking all the time about all her loss, grief and pain. As a student, she excelled and rose to the top of her class. She was enchanted by lectures given by her professors and even visiting professors from other universities like Dr. Erik Selvig, who was visiting from Culver University in West Virginia.

As much as she enjoyed reading and letting her mind wander, lab time was what she loved most, especially when she, along with her fellow classmates traveled to observatories to use the large telescopes. She got to see the galaxy and it reminded her of Asgard, and it made her feel hope that maybe she could still get home someday.

She really did miss the amazing views it had.

Sigyn graduated with a Bachelor's degree in May of 2006 and she called Sam and invited him to the ceremony. He was, legally, considered her father and she thought it might look strange if she had no one there with her as she graduated. She was thankful he showed up and he stayed at her apartment in for a few days afterward before returning home to Virginia. That fall she entered into the graduate program at Columbia, attaining a PhD two years later.

That is when things began to seriously change for her.

She didn't realize it at the time, but of seeing Loki again and going home would become real possibilities in the years to come, and the next major event that happened to her was the first stepping stone.

Sigyn was sitting at an outdoor table of The Odeon restaurant at the corners of W. Broadway and Thomas Street in TriBeCa, eating a hamburger and fries, and nursing a bottle of Weihenstephaner Festbier, a German ale. It was lunchtime and the traffic on the streets wasn't that busy and she was lost in thought, going over old notes from some classes she had taken a few years before at Columbia when she looked up by chance to see two teen boys shouting back and forth to each other. One was standing on the corner where the restaurant was, mere feet from Sigyn and the other was across the street, in front of an American Apparel store. Both kids seemed to know each other and the one in front of the store was beckoning for the one nearest Sigyn to cross the street and join him.

Just as the boy nearest Sigyn stepped off the curb, when traffic seemed clear, the sound of screeching tires for yards away echoed off the buildings. Sigyn turned her head and looked down W. Broadway to see a newer model, white Dodge Ram truck speeding down the road and looked to be swerving out of control. Instead of staying in its lane, it was coming directly toward the teenager crossing the street. He noticed it, but there wasn't enough time for his human reflexes to react.

Such was not the case for Sigyn.

She was on her feet in seconds and ran out to the boy, grabbed him up in her arms and turned him around so that her body shielded him from the impact of the truck which instead hit her. The boy was fine, and so was Sigyn for that matter.

The front of the truck was another story.

In the moment of impact, it was as if the truck had hit a steel pole. The entire grill and hood accordioned, leaving the truck's front end seriously damaged in the wake of Sigyn's strength and durability.

The moment after impact, Sigyn opened her eyes and felt the boy trembling in her arms over what just happened. She stood up, bringing him to his feet with her and then turned him around and placed her hands on either side of his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He looked behind her at the truck, like a deer caught in the headlights, and then back to her as he nodded his head. He was in shock, which was understandable. His short life had probably flashed rather violently before his eyes.

"Th-thank you," he stuttered.

Sigyn just nodded, and then noticed the crowd of people gathering on each corner, staring at the scene. With all eyes on her, she felt naked. Without thinking much on it further, she darted back across the street to her table. She pulled some money out of her pocket and slammed it down on the table, and then she grabbed her notebook and bag up and took off running east on Thomas Street and eventually ducking into a clothing store.

She left after purchasing sunglasses and a hoodie, both of which she wore out of the store. She casually continued on her way to the J line train in the Bowery which soon brought her home to her Williamsburg neighborhood.

Quietly, she made her back to her apartment building as if nothing had happened. She tried reminding herself that New York was such a big city and that she hadn't been recognized. Despite having matriculated into society, she didn't want to be the center of attention. She came to New York to be lost in the crowd, not stand out in it.

She made herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves, and after a few days of nothing, they eased up. There was a news report on it that night and a write up in the New York Times the next day. It had said an unknown woman "miraculously" saved 17-year-old Aaron Przybyl from being hit by a truck by getting hit herself and ran away from the scene of the incident without a scratch while the truck was more or less damaged beyond all repair. Sigyn just needed to stay indoors for a while and let it all blow over before she went back out into the world and continue about her life.

That seemed like the best plain at the moment.

Though, maybe moving to a new city was something she should consider. It _had_ been a while since she'd been back to Europe.

Four days after the incident, Sigyn was sitting Indian-style on her bed, reading an interview the teen, Aaron, had given, wishing he could thank the woman who saved him once more, now that he was recovered from shock. She was at the end of the small article when her doorbell rang.

The hairs on her arms stood on end and she immediately became defensive.

She had no friends, and she never conversed with her neighbors, so there was no one who would be at her door during the middle of the day.

Getting to her feet, Sigyn walked out of her bedroom and into the living room. She stared at the door as the bell rang again.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she called out.

"I'm here to talk to you, Ms. Thorne." It was a man's voice. It sounded pleasant but that wasn't enough to convince Sigyn to open the door; not that she couldn't take out whoever it was.

"You're doing that right now."

"Face to face would be easier."

Sigyn approached the door and looked through the peephole to find a man in his early or mid-forties with thinning brown hair and wearing a two piece suit. He looked rather unassuming and maybe even a bit bored as he stood there.

Feeling bold, Sigyn removed the chain lock and turned the deadbolt lock before opening the door to peer out just a smidgen at first.

He smiled tightlipped at her and then greeted, "Hello."

"We're face to face now," she said, opening the door a bit wider when she sensed no actual threat from him. "Now, I will ask you again: who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Agent Phil Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D. and I'm here to talk to you about a job opportunity."


	26. Reunion

* * *

 

Sigyn sat across from Agent Coulson in her living room, both quietly sipping cups of tea while sizing each other up. Both sat up straight but their demeanors were different. Sigyn looked upon him with suspicion and with the knowledge that she could easily snap him in two and disappear if need be, whereas Coulson seemed introspective and curious, as if he was partaking in a game of charades.

"I'm not going to bother with small talk," he decreed. "I just want to know how you saved that boy and walked away without a scratch."

"Adrenaline rush," she bullshitted with a smirk.

"And I'm the Easter Bunny."

"Should I call you Agent Cottontail, instead?"

Coulson smirked back and set his tea cup down. "You're not the first person my organization has encountered that has superhuman strength. Most have had something done to them to make them that way." He paused, watching Sigyn set her own cup down as well. "Was something done to you?"

"I was born stronger than...what you would consider normal. It's all I've ever known. I just don't use my strength or agility all the time. I prefer keeping a low profile."

"Understandable," he nodded. "My organization, S.H.I.E.L.D., is very keen on low profile."

"I know about SHIELD," she replied, sitting back in her wingback chair. "My grandmother was friends with one of its founders, Peggy Carter. They stayed in touch until the mid '50s, and eventually my grandmother told me some of her tales from during the war."

"Who was your grandmother?"

"If you truly worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., and you were able to find out who I am and where I live, then you have checked into my records and know my relatives; especially who my grandmother was."

Coulson smirked knowingly; giving way that he, indeed, had learned enough about her personal history. "Agent Millie Thorne, born in London to Lillian Palmer and unknown father in 1918, no birth month or day given. Moved to Philadelphia at some point in the early 1930s. No further records of Lillian Palmer after that. Only known information was given by Agent Thorne when she joined the SSR in 1942. Worked alongside Agents Carter, Howard Stark, Col. Phillips and a few of the Howling Commandos, but she stayed put, stateside, working from secret bases to do her part. She resigned in 1945, following the end of the war and was then found to be living in Pasadena, where she owned a home from 1948 to 1972. Gave birth to a daughter, Mary Thorne, in 1954; also no known father. Mary graduated high school, also in 1972, and moved to the Bay Area where she attended UC Berkeley until 1974 before dropping out and moving to Virginia. She obtained a Virginia driver's license in 1979, and her last known residence was at the Pure Peace Community, a commune. She died four years after giving birth to a daughter, Astrid Thorne: you. Father, Samuel Liddell, still resides at the commune. Your grandmother owned a second home in Napa from 1972 until 1987. Presumably she came to live at the commune but she died seven years ago of an apparent heart attack. Location of her death is listed as being at the commune, though no commune members can corroborate that information. Millie was cremated and her ashes buried beside Mary. No crematorium maintains records of such a process. Upon your eighteenth birthday, applied for a credit card and the first purchase ever made was at a Best Western. You inherited Millie's fortune and moved here at the end of summer. You volunteered with the Red Cross following 9/11, obtained a New York driver's license, though you own no vehicle and have never rented one. There is also no record of you having attended any sort of public school or being home schooled. There is no educational record until you applied to Columbia University and somehow got accepted into the Astrophysics and Astronomy department, graduating with a Bachelor's degree two years ago and just last month with your PhD; both times at the top of your class."

Sigyn just sat silently, reciting back to her the last eighty plus years of her life that she had lead as three separate people; four if she included her tenure as Ilse in Berlin, when she worked alongside Johann Schmidt, but Coulson didn't know about that and _didn't_ need to know.

"You've done your homework, but I didn't need you to recite my family history back to me."

"I just wanted to assure you we know plenty about the known details about your life and those of your mother's and grandmother's lives. The records don't explain how you stood in front of a truck and shielded a teenage boy, preventing him from becoming roadkill, and simultaneously destroying the front of the truck as if it had run into a steel pole."

"Maybe my parents smoked some special marijuana while I was in the womb."

"Maybe you're evading the truth."

"Should I expect the next thing to come out of your mouth to be something along the lines of you saying S.H.I.E.L.D. has ways of making me talk? Bonus points if said in a German or Russian accent."

"We do, actually, but we try to be diplomatic in most of our approaches."

"Well, all I can say is that I am the way I am because I am." Sigyn shrugged. "Take it or leave it."

Coulson smirked. "We'd like to take it." Then, "Not as in we want to take it from you but we'd like to put it to use. We know that when you graduated recently with your PhD, you received several research fellowships and teaching positions in both the educational and the private sector alike. However, you haven't responded to any offers."

"I'm keeping my options open. I might want to travel the world for a while."

"With your knowledge of astrophysics and astronomy, and your undoubted physical prowess and agility, you could make for one hell of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent if that sounds like something that interests you."

"What would I have to do if I decided on that path?"

"We'd take you to a secure location for evaluations and testing, field training; stuff along those lines."

"You would try to find the source of my strength, wouldn't you? Maybe synthesize it and administer it to your current soldiers; almost like what was done to Steve Rogers."

Coulson subconsciously perked up at that name. "Steve Rogers, Captain America, is something we could never duplicate."

"I would've thought you would be more suspicious of me as I am of you; maybe come here with several black ops armed to the gills with heavy artillery pointed at me."

"Now what kind of first impression would that make when we're trying to recruit you?" Coulson smirked. "Consider me your olive branch."

"And if I say no to this; what then?"

"Then we leave you alone."

Sigyn chuckled, "I highly doubt that. Not after you've seen what I've done."

"We leave you alone," he repeated, then added, "But we keep watch, and if there was ever a problem, we'd eliminate it."

"Would that problem be me?"

"Maybe," he nodded. "S.H.I.E.L.D. protects this world and when there is a threat, we remove the threat." Coulson picked his tea cup back up, about to take a drink. "Do you see yourself becoming a threat, Ms. Thorne, or do you see yourself as part of something bigger?"

 

* * *

 

Little over a year later, Sigyn found herself no longer living in her Williamsburg, Brooklyn apartment but instead in a bunk at a the Playground; a top secret underground S.H.I.E.L.D. facility at a classified location. She had gone through rigorous training and physical aptitude tests; well, rigorous for humans. She never really broke a sweat. They took blood and saliva samples and their scientists were perplexed by her DNA, which led to extensive questioning about her past; if she'd ever been in contact with any foreign substance, possibly not of this world, or ingested anything along the lines of a super serum, a la Captain America. Sigyn could only smirk and shake her head and insist she was merely born this way. She felt no need to mention that _she_ was the foreign substance that was not of this world.

S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't really want her because she had acquired a PhD in astrophysics as much as they wanted her for her muscle. She held back the full force most of the time so she didn't hurt the other agents she was pitted against in her training, but she didn't let them best her either. It was all rather amusing; it reminded her of her training to be a shield maiden, only this time the focus was on using a gun as her main weapon and not a sword. And the fact that she had trained as a _shield_ maiden and was now part of _S.H.I.E.L.D._ wasn't lost on her.

The only person she really allowed to come close to matching her in physical prowess and combat skills was the spry, redheaded Natasha Romanoff whose codename was Black Widow. She respected the young woman's skillset and the way she was equally closed off emotionally. It was like having a kindred spirit. Sigyn knew very little about her other than she was formerly of the KGB who was brought in by S.H.I.E.L.D. to work for them instead and she was a master assassin. Like Sigyn, Natasha clearly had a history of some shit that happened to her; most she was probably responsible for and may not be proud of, but did her best to push it back into the deepest, darkest recesses of her mind.

In her combat training, Sigyn relied heavily on being able to quickly get behind her opponent and coil her arms around either their necks or chests, so tightly, until they passed out from lack of oxygen. This consistent move got her the codename of Boa, because she could squeeze the life out of you like a boa constrictor. Being omnilingual helped her as well when she began to go out on missions abroad with a team. She was able to easily communicate with the locals of whatever country she was sent to if they were undercover.

It was a life that amused her and kept her busy. She followed orders like a good girl, but there was part of her that couldn't fall into line with the rules and she frequently got reprimanded by her CO. Living and working within the belly of the beast that was S.H.I.E.L.D. gave her the opportunity to see how the current world really work, who the threats were and the kind of power was wielded. Sigyn figured if she were to have the same kind of manpower, weaponry and intel behind her, alongside her own skillset, she could be quite the force to be reckoned with and possibly take over a continent in days, if not the world.

She could be its queen.

Hell, she could've done something like that centuries ago and ruled the earth as a benevolent god.

However, the humans had evolved considerably and developed their technologies on their own threatening level to take on whatever would be thrown at them. Conquering them would be an uphill battle, but that's not saying it wasn't possible she could win. It just wasn't the kind of thing she was prepared to take on anytime soon.

Another two years later, the world had changed even more now that Howard Stark's son Tony had become Iron Man. While Natasha was sent off to Malibu by Director Fury as a plant within Stark Industries to keep an eye on Tony, Sigyn stayed back at the Playground, tinkering around one of the labs when Clint Barton, code name Hawkeye, wandered in with a bagel to inspect whatever she was up to.

"Thorne," he greeted.

"Barton," she replied.

"It's a little strange seeing you with a lab coat on."

"As compared to the blood of my enemies?" she jested, looking up from a computer screen.

Clint smirked. "Something like that." He moved around to the other side of her and peered at the computer. "What's that?" he pointed with his bagel.

"Radio waves from space."

"Looking for alien life?"

"Always." Sigyn leaned back and cracked her neck before closing down the computer and swiveling in her chair to look at Clint. "What's on that bagel?"

"Just cream cheese."

"Are there anymore in the kitchen?"

"Plenty enough." As she stood up from her chair, Clint walked with her as she left the lab and head in the direction of the Playground's kitchen. "I don't know about you, but down time like this always makes me feel a bit off, y'know? I need to keep busy."

"Why don't you go shoot some arrows?"

Clint gave her a withering look. "I love archery and all, it's kinda my thing, but even _I_ get bored of it once in awhile."

"I could throw you around a bit, if you're so bored."

"No, thanks; I've seen what you can do and have done." He brought a hand to his neck and made a face.

Sigyn simply chuckled a bit as they walked a few more feet in silence before her mind suddenly felt fuzzy; a broken television set getting turned on, where you could only see static even though you could hear talking.

_Sigyn._

She stopped in her tracks and felt her heart leap into her throat.

That voice.

"Yes?" she said aloud.

Clint turned around and stopped, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't say anything."

She glanced over at him, distracted and waved him off. "I've just remembered something I need to do."

Without another word, Sigyn abruptly turned away from the archer and made a beeline for her bunk. She kept her head down and her arms at her sides, trying to listen for the voice in her head again while occasionally passing a few people in the hall on her way. If she had said something like that out loud, they would've thought her to be insane. Hell, she almost thought she was starting to go insane as well. This was a voice she hadn't heard in almost eight and a half centuries.

As she reached the door to her bunk, she stopped dead.

_Sigyn? Can you hear me?_

Knitting her brow together, Sigyn brought a hand to her chest. "Yes," she whispered.

She wasted no time stepping into her bunk and locking it behind her. She leaned back against the door and looked across at the wall where she had a pictures tacked; one of her with Mary, at Mary's high school graduation, and the second was a photo of her and Peggy during WWII. People had asked about the photos, and she simply gave her usual lie as an answer – that it was her grandmother. Mostly, she kept the photo of her and Peggy up because it allowed her to remember her current identity's namesake, her first true friend in this world.

It wasn't the photographs on the wall that were important now, though. The voice in her head was.

"Loki?" she asked aloud.

_Yes, my love._

Sigyn caught a sob in her throat as she covered her mouth with her hand and slid down the door to sit like a lump of clay on the floor. "How…?"

_How am I able to communicate with you now, after all these years?_

"Yes."

_It's taken a lot of time and a lot of practice. I am so sorry it's taken so long._

"What…has something happened? Are you alright?"

_I am fine. Are you?_

"That's a loaded question." Sigyn sighed and looked up, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "I've missed you so much. You have no idea how I've suffered without you."

_I should've gone with you all those years ago. It is all my fault. I am your husband and I should've been at your side all this time._

"I told you not to come with me; I insisted it. I thought I would be able to come home."

_But I could've come after you when I learned of how you had been banished. I should've forsaken my place here in Asgard and joined you. We are one and should've remained so."_

"There's nothing we can do about the past," she whispered. "It is gone from us." There was silence on both parts for a moment. "What of our future?"

_I am not sure. I have things set in motion, my darling, which will hopefully secure my being able to bring you home._

A sob escaped Sigyn's lips and tears stung her eyes. Never before had she been so filled with hope. It was as if the never-ending storm cloud over her head had finally dissipated and given way to a sunny day.

"I hope so."

_Are you alone?_

"I am."

She waited for a response but received none; at least not verbally, in her head. Sigyn pulled herself up off the floor and sauntered over to her bed and sat down, folding her hands in her lap and looking down at them when she began to sense static in the air. In the corner of her eye, a yellowish-green light flickered, similar to the way the aurora borealis shined in the northern hemisphere. Sigyn lifted her head and witnessed the shape of feet taking form and building upward to reveal legs, waist, torso and then shoulders before she realized Loki was standing there.

Sigyn didn't know how to react.

The dark cloud was definitely lifted and there was the sun.

"Are you really here or is this a double?"

Loki was quietly inspecting her appearance for a moment, concern written all over his face, but then he smiled and nodded at her, taking a step forward. "I am really here."

To prove he spoke truth, he crouched down before her and took her hands in his.

Sigyn let out a heartbreaking laugh as tears spilled down her cheeks. "How can you be here physically? Odin wouldn't have let you come here."

Loki shook his head, looking up at his estranged bride. "There are other ways out of Asgard, and I have found them," he explained. "I have spent a long time searching for a way to finally reach you."

Leaning closer, Sigyn removed her hands from his hold and placed them on either side of his face, needing to prove to herself just how real he was. "But what of Heimdall? Heimdall sees all. He'll see this and tell Odin…"

Once more, Loki shook his head and smiled. "I've grown a lot in my power since you've been gone. The things I am capable of…" he trailed and rested his head down in her lap while she snaked her fingers through his hair. "I have found a way to cloak myself. Heimdall won't be able to see me or where I am."

There was so much Sigyn wanted to tell him, namely about Narfi, but now wasn't the time. She wanted to enjoy this first reunion of theirs. "How long do you have?"

"Not long, unfortunately. I am expected at a meeting with my father and brother shortly," he answered, looking up at her. "Odin is growing tired and to be passing on the throne to Thor so he can enter his Odinsleep. He's been putting it off for too long now and he's becoming vulnerable. I understand that Thor is the elder son, but he is no way ready for the crown. However, father has no choice. He must sleep and someone must rule in his stead."

Something glimmered in his eyes; a spark of mischief Sigyn remembered all too well. "You mean to rule instead?"

Loki licked his lips, placing his hands up to her knees and moving them up to her thighs, before smirking. "I mean to merely prove to my father that Thor is not ready for the throne. He is bullheaded and doesn't think before he acts. He is not what Asgard needs in a king right now."

Sigyn grinned, putting his face between her hands once more. "You are more than worthy of that throne and would make a fine king."

Pulling himself up to his feet, gracefully like a cat, Loki braced his hands on the mattress on either side of Sigyn's hips before leaning in to brush his lips against hers like a feather before going in for a full kiss. It was like electricity sparking between them and as if no time had passed. She had her hands around his neck, pulling him down to the bed with her and he let her do it. Loki pressed his weight down upon her as he encircled her in his arms and held on tightly as they rediscovered each other's mouths.

"My beautiful princess," he murmured against her lips as if he wanted to devour her right then and there. "No, wait."

Sigyn pulled back from his face to look at him better, wondering what was wrong, when she noticed he was smiling. "What?"

"If I am to become king, you would no longer be a princess." Loki began to lift Sigyn's shirt up over her head; a little confounded by the bra she wore underneath. Women in Asgard didn't have undergarments quite like that, but it didn't deter him any in removing hers as well. "You, my love," he continued, while she fumbled to help him out of his pants and he helped her out of hers. "You will be my queen."

Sheathing himself inside of her, Loki groaned with satisfaction while Sigyn wrapped her legs firmly around his waist and let him pound away centuries of longing and heartache.

"I feel as if at any moment I am going to awake and this will have been nothing more than a dream," she remarked before biting down onto his bottom lip.

Loki hissed, baring his teeth a little and then grinned back at her. "This is anything but that." Curling his arms around her back, he spun them around so that she was on top, but then he sat up with her so that she was sitting in his lap, letting her take the lead.

He buried his face into her shoulder while she rolled her hips and elicited several moans from him. It really didn't take too long for either to peak; the excitement of coming together, no pun intended, after way too long apart was to die for. In the final throes, her bed creaked and collapsed under their combined weight.

Loki fell back onto the mattress and Sigyn flopped forward onto his chest in a heap; her hair falling around his face as he stared up at her with a laugh. "I do not think Midgardian beds are built to sustain us; or at least not two of us at the same time."

"I'm sure there are many things in this world that cannot handle the two of us combined."

Pushing her hair back behind her ears, Loki smiled briefly but let it fade. He leaned up slightly to press his forehead to hers. "There is so much I want to say to you right now, as I am sure there is so much you want to say to me," he spoke. "We have too many years apart to catch up on and will make sure we get that chance." Loki kissed her softly, letting his lips linger for a moment. "Unfortunately, I cannot stay any longer right now. I have wheels that need to be set in motion and I can only do it from Asgard. It pains me to have to leave you again."

Sigyn nuzzled her nose against his neck, inhaling his scent which she had so deeply missed. "It is true I have much to tell you, but I do not want to burden you with my stories from the last many centuries, which include several tales of woe. You do not need that on your mind while you do what it is you need to do."

Loki turned his head so that they were looking each other in the eye. "I definitely want to know what has pained your heart."

She sat up and placed a hand on his chest. "Not now, my husband." She leaned in and kissed him once more and then began to redress herself while he followed suit. "You have other matters to attend to and what I have to tell you can wait. I am not going anywhere."

They both stood up and Loki pulled her tightly against him, burrowing his face into her neck and curling his fingers into the hair on the back of her head. "That will change as soon as I can manage it, my wife," he replied. "I will take you away from this realm of mortals and bring you home to be beside me once more where you belong."

"I will wait for you, as I have for so long."

Loki smiled, kissing the bit of skin behind her ear as a knock came to her door. Sigyn felt Loki pull away as she looked at the door and heard Clint calling through it at her, wanting to know if everything was okay.

When Sigyn turned to look back at Loki, he was already gone; almost as if he hadn't been there at all. The only sign he had was her broken bed.

"Astrid?" Clint called again, followed by three short knocks.

"Give me a minute," she replied. She went to her mirror and made sure she didn't look disheveled; fixing her clothes and then throwing on a leather jacket and tying her hair back into a ponytail. When she was satisfied with her appearance she opened the door enough to step out of her room, but the door was open long enough for Clint to steal a look inside.

"What happened to your bed?"

"I sat down a little too hard on it."

"Well," Clint shrugged, as she closed the door and locked it, "You _are_ stronger than most girls I know."

"Even Romanoff?" Sigyn smirked.

Clint hesitated and then leaned in to whisper, "Yes, but don't let her know I said that," he teased.

"I promise to say no such thing to her," she answered, crossing her heart with her finger. Talking to Clint, she reverted back to her American accent, which she had been using for years as Astrid Thorne. It was always tiring to keep up with and was much relieved to talk normally with Loki. "

As they walked along down the hallway, Clint turned to her. "Did you still want that bagel? I went to the kitchen and there were only, like, two left so I hid one for you."

Sigyn looked at him and grinned, reaching a hand out and giving him a playful shove, but slightly forgetting her own strength and shoving him harder than she intended. He showed no signs of bewilderment in the gesture. Clearly, this wasn't the first time he'd been subject to what she was capable of.

"Should I ever snap and go on a murderous rage, I'll spare you."

"Gee, thanks," he replied, a small smirks toying at the corners of his mouth.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks after Loki's visit, Sigyn hadn't heard or seen him again and she began to seriously doubt if he'd been with her at all. When she slept, it was restless sleep. She tossed and turned; her mind constantly distracted with so many questions and thoughts running around. She worried that perhaps Loki had been wrong and Heimdall did see them together and had told Odin, and that Odin had punished Loki somehow. She had no way of knowing what was going on and the downtime at the Playground that had been driving Clint nuts was now doing the same to her.

Fortunately, that all changed very quickly Director Fury reassigned Coulson from his detail with Tony Stark to investigate atmospheric activity in New Mexico. The call came in from Fury to Clint, informing him to head immediately to join Coulson's team and to bring Sigyn with him; to put her astrophysics skills to use instead of just her physical ones. Together, they arrived to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Outpost at Roswell, New Mexico not long after Coulson arrived and were quickly put to work. Sigyn was scanned the data and reviewed Coulson's theory that the atmospheric disturbances could signify an Einstein-Rosen Bridge; a wormhole.

Sigyn couldn't help but feel her spirits pick up.

She knew these signs.

They were similar to that of the Bifrost when it was opened and anyone from Asgard traveled to another realm. When witnessing someone about to arrive by that means of travel, it always appeared like a storm in the sky first. The interstellar images S.H.I.E.L.D. had acquired proved as much that that's what it was, but Sigyn wasn't about to say anything about that. She just bid her time, assuming this meant whatever Loki had been planning was coming to fruition and he was coming to bring her home.

However, such was not quite the case.

She witnessed the data quickly piling up and knew the Bifrost had been opened and someone from Asgard had touched down to Earth. Sigyn found herself discouraged because she knew if it had been Loki who arrived, he would have reached out to her by then, and he had not.

When the team was sent out to the site of a crater that had formed fifty miles east of Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, it was teaming with locals trying to pull something from the center of the crater. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents soon sent those locals packing and on further inspection, the object in the center of the crater was discovered to be Mjolnir, Thor's hammer.

When Sigyn saw that's what it was, she fell silent and said nothing to no one. S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly built up a portable laboratory over the site to study the hammer, all the while Sigyn looked upon it from a safe distance, knowing that if Mjolnir was there then Thor wasn't far away. And, like that, her hoped returned. She could only assume it meant Loki's plans, whatever they were, had gone accordingly. Why else would Thor be on Midgard and quite obviously separated from his precious hammer?

She was tempted to go up to the hammer and give it a pull, and see if she was worthy enough to pick it up, but she knew in her heart it would be pointless. Instead, she kept to the wings; keeping herself busy with scientific work until later that night when Clint showed up asking her the 411 before Coulson interrupted and pulled him away. Clint nodded pleasantly toward her and she returned to her work, but it wasn't long before the S.H.I.E.L.D. installation erected around Mjolnir was breached. The alarm was sounded. Someone had busted in, taking down several of agents, though not killing them, before making their way to Mjolnir. Sigyn found followed the trail of unconscious agents and stood at a safe distance, watching as none other than Thor, dressed in modern Midgardian clothes, was struggling to lift Mjolnir as rare dessert rain poured down around him.

She had an earpiece in and could hear Clint communicating back and forth with Coulson, saying he had the shot and how he was starting to root for the guy; the guy being Thor. Coulson then radioed her personally, asking her that if Clint wasn't able to contain the situation, she was next; to drop what she was doing in the lab and take care of Thor, herself.

Sigyn agreed, to appease Coulson, but she felt that in doing so it could jeopardize whatever Loki was up to and she didn't want to compromise anything, so she hung back hoping the situation would play out differently. And, fortunately, it did. Coulson had told Clint to stand down, to see what Thor's motive was. After having dropped to his knees in failing to lift Mjolnir, Thor was then apprehended and taken to a room where he was sat in a chair with his hands cuffed behind him while Coulson questioned him.

From a small, private lab, Sigyn hacked into the live feed of the questioning, watching as her burly, golden-haired cousin looked toward the ground; a broken, lost man. Despite her loyalty to Loki, Thor was still her blood and had always been kind to her, so she felt quite sympathetic to him.

"Who are you?" Coulson was asking Thor.

"Just a man."

"One way or another, we find out what we want to know. We're good at that."

Sigyn watched as Coulson turned and left the room and Thor lowered his head. She looked away from the screen as well, when she heard that wonderful voice again.

"I thought he'd never leave."

Sigyn looked back toward the screen, noticing Loki standing there now in the room with Thor. She messed with the feed so that no one else could witness what she was seeing and then left the lab to make her way toward the room where the two Asgardian men were talking. By the time she reached it, she saw that Coulson was back inside talking to Thor once more and that Loki was gone.

Her shoulders fell and she turned around, running straight into someone as sturdy in their posture as she was. Looking up she found herself looking up at Loki and quickly pulled him into a small, unused storage room. He grinned down at her and greeted her with a kiss which she readily reciprocated.

"I haven't much time," he said. "How have you been?"

"Tirelessly waiting for you," she smirked back at him. "What were you telling Thor?"

"Oh, just a few white lies; a few bent truths."

"What has happened in Asgard? Why is Thor here and why can't he wield Mjolnir."

"I used one of those secret passages into Asgard to let a few Frost Giants into the Odin's treasure room and disrupt Thor's coronation. As I expected Thor handled the situation with the grace of a bilgesnipe. I traveled with Thor, Sif and the Warrior's Three to Jotunheim where Thor attacked them and we fought. I'd warned a guard beforehand to tell Odin, who then arrived in the nick of time to save our hides. Needless to say, Odin was none too pleased. He stripped Thor of his powers and banished him here to live as a mortal, then sent Mjolnir after him in some hope that Thor could find his way of being worthy of it." Loki rolled his eyes. "I learned something of myself in Jotunheim when a Frost Giant touched my skin. It didn't burn me. Instead my skin turned blue and I knew something was wrong. I went to inspect the Casket of Ancient Winters. I picked it up and my entire body turned blue and etchings appeared on my skin."

Sigyn reached her hands up to Loki's face. "I know," she whispered. "I know what you're going to tell me. My father told me the truth of who you are centuries ago after I found him; that you were born a Jotun and Odin took you to raise as his own in hopes of someday joining both kingdoms in peace."

"Yes, well, there's no need for that now with Thor banished," Loki scoffed. "I have the throne now. Odin fell into the Odinsleep after I demanded the truth about me from him."

"This is good news," Sigyn replied with a hopeful smile.

"Yes, but my plan isn't complete yet. There are just a couple more things I need to secure before I can bring you home."

"Such as?"

Loki winced, trying to avoid revealing too much. Despite eight hundred and forty year apart, he still treasured her opinion of him and didn't want to let her down. "Destroy Jotunheim."

"You want to destroy an entire race?"

Steeling his jaw, Loki looked down at her and nodded. "I do."

Sigyn fell silent for a moment, and then took both his hands in hers. "Jotunheim _has_ always been a threat, and it was just a matter of time before they tried to steal back the casket, with or without your help. Not to mention Laufey abandoned you, leaving you to die." She looked up at Loki and shrugged. "You owe nothing to them, but don't destroy that world without a reason."

"How do mean?"

"Set them up to fail," Sigyn replied. "Let them into Asgard once more, let them attack Odin and then you can be the hero by double-crossing them. You will have saved and protected the Allfather and Asgard. Then, destroy Jotunheim. It will be a necessary evil to prevent any further attack on Asgard from such a barbaric race that would rather see all of Asgard dead themselves rather than make peace."

Loki grinned at his devoted wife. "Since when did you become wicked?" he teased.

The coy smirk she had been wearing faded and her eyes grew dark as she allowed herself to mentally relive the defining moment in her life which set her on darker path. "When our son was brutally murdered."

Loki's face fell as he knitted his brow together. "Our what?"

"I was pregnant when I first arrived here. I gave birth to a son," she answered, letting her hands roam up his chest and grab onto the houndstooth scarf he was wearing. "His name was Narfi and I had him for only a hundred and twenty-nine years. The descendant of a friend I made when I first came here killed him out of jealously. Our son was to wed a woman he loved and this descendent, whose name is no longer worthy to fall upon my lips, stabbed our son in the back, through his heart. He died in my arms. I watched his life drain from his eyes."

Rage began to boil beneath the surface in Loki, but Sigyn's hands to the sides of his face brought his attention into focus.

"Heimdall knew and he told Odin," she continued. "Odin came here to Earth a century later to hide the Tesseract and crossed paths with my father. Odin told him he knew all about Narfi's birth and his death but he chose not to tell you because he had other plans for you."

"And I'm supposed to be the monster?" Loki spat, more to himself. He balled his fists and pulled away from Sigyn's touch.

"You are no such thing." She reached out and grabbed his face firmly in one hand and forced him to look at her. "There is plenty that has happened and been done to us, but right now we cannot dwell on it. _You_ cannot dwell on it," she insisted. "Bury it deep and focus on the tasks at hand, but let it help fuel the fire. Use it to go on and give you something to fight for and to fight towards."

Loki gathered his composure and nodded at Sigyn. "I will make you proud of me. I will provide you with a kingdom to be queen of."

She smirked, releasing her hand from his face. "Of that I have no doubt."

He turned to move, before first looking back. "What was it you mentioned of the Tesseract?"

 

* * *

 

Sigyn had watched from a safe distance as Loki cloaked his presence from everyone else while he took a stab at trying to wrest Mjolnir from where it sat to no avail. He fixed his suit, looked skyward and turned around. As he made eye contact with her, he smiled and then disappeared; leaving Sigyn to return to her lab duties while Thor was released so S.H.I.E.L.D. could follow him and see where he would lead them.

The following day, Coulson and several agents went to Puente Antiguo where they were attacked by the Destroyer, which Sigyn could've only been sent by Loki, as only a king of Asgard could control the Destroyer and Loki now sat on the throne. She wasn't present for the battle in the small, desert town but she was with a team headed by Clint, later in the day, when the Destroyer's inanimate body was discovered. She knew before then that Thor had gotten his powers back when Mjolnir flew out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. installation to parts unknown, and she knew he had returned to Asgard when she witnessed, from a distance, the sky storming up; letting her know the Bifrost was open.

She began to worry again for Loki, and it showed as she found herself distracted while the Destroyer's body was airlifted to Roswell. Clint walked alongside her as they boarded a Quinjet and something in her heart suddenly ached.

She was overcome with a deep feeling of dread, and then Loki's voice rang out in her mind. It was like he was screaming in fear and despair, but there was nothing she could do. She dropped to her knees with her palms pressed against the floor. Clint was at her side, crouching down and asking her if she was alright, but she couldn't find her voice. Sigyn couldn't shake the fear that was overwhelming her that something terrible had just happened to Loki.

If he was dead, and Odin was responsible, he would know her anguish tenfold.

The Allfather had taken enough from her, or left her in position to lose too much.

Unable to snap out of the darkness enveloping her mind once more, Sigyn was sent to get mental evaluation and it was determined that lack of sleep and stress had gotten the best of her and it was suggested she take a sabbatical for a few weeks.

Technically, it wasn't a suggestion, but more of a demand.

She was sitting in a hotel room in Maui, a month into her sabbatical, looking out at the Maalaea Bay from her balcony, when she felt a tingling in her mind. She stepped back into her room and saw no one there, but when she looked into the mirror, she saw Loki smiling back at her, looking worse for wear. He was dirty, bruised and battered and his hair disheveled.

"Loki, oh my—what happened?" she stepped closer to the mirror.

"Thor returned, we fought and he destroyed the Bifrost to prevent my destruction of Jotunheim," he replied, rolling his eyes. "We fell, but Odin arrived and caught us. I couldn't make Odin see that I was worthy of being king; he so easily dismissed my aspirations and I knew then I had nothing left for me there and I let go."

"Where did you end up? Where are you now?"

"I fell through the ether, and I'm not cannot say where I am, but only because I mean to keep you safe."

"What do I need to fear?"

"Nothing, my love. I'm just being cautious," he assured. "But I need you to do something for me."

"Anything."

"What you told me about the Tesseract and whose hands you believed it might be in; well, your instincts rang true. I need you to get close to it and keep an eye on it for me until I can get back to you."

"Why?"

"I have found someone who can help me get what I want if I help _him_ get what _he_ wants."

"Who?"

"Need to know, my love."

"Don't keep secrets from me, Loki."

"I'm not. I'm keeping you safe," he insisted. "The less you know right now, the better for you."

"Do you know where the Tesseract is?"

"Right now it's in the hands of a man of science named Dr. Erik Selvig. He has been charged with seeing what it can do. Get close to him and you get close to the Tesseract."

Sigyn nodded. "I will," she agreed. "I'm just happy you're okay. I feared the worst."

"I know and I'm sorry, darling. Things will get better."

She smiled. "I love you."

He smiled back. "I love you more."

 

* * *

 

Loki cut off his mental projection from Sigyn and stepped back, placing a finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose as if trying to ward off a headache. He screwed his eyes tight for a moment and gritted his teeth as an entity behind him moves close.

"Do you still have control over the one who currently wields the Tesseract?"

Loki turned around and eyed The Other with a tired, but charming grin. "Of course. It is my sole mission to ensure the creation of the device that will harness the Tesseract's power. That is, so long as our deal still stands."

"Yes," snarled The Other. "You get command of the Chitauri army in exchange for Thanos getting the Tesseract. But do not think of failing Him, or trying to back out. The pain you have been shown up until now is nothing compared to what you could feel. Remember that, Loki of Asgard."

Loki nodded, keeping his cool, before turning away and staring out into Chitauri space; clenching his jaw and burying the look of distress in his eyes.


	27. Kiss and Control

* * *

 

Sigyn had been expecting to find it difficult to worm her way into joining Selvig's research team, but found it was quite easy. It may have had something to do with Selvig being unwittingly under Loki's control, but her PhD in astrophysics did help. Fury wasn't one hundred percent willing to part with someone of Sigyn's physical talents in the field to let her play the scientist with Selvig, even though harnessing the Tesseract's powers was one of his main priorities. Sigyn had offered a solution, in which she would take time away from Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., one weekend a month, much like how the National Guard worked. S.H.I.E.L.D. could send her wherever they needed her, to do what they needed her to do, but she would return that following Monday at the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility in the Mojave Desert to continue working alongside Selvig and his research team that was combined with both NASA and S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists. Another reason Fury relented in allowing Sigyn a place on the research team was that if something were to happen, he trusted she could use the same skills she used in the field and apply them to the lab; namely protection.

For weeks following Sigyn's placement at the facility, she watched Selvig and his mannerisms. Most of the time he seemed himself, or as much as himself that Sigyn had gotten to know. However, there were several occasions where his speech patterns or ministrations reminded him of Loki, and she knew that in those times Loki was forcing Selvig's hand, quite literally, to do or say what he needed Selvig to do or say.

Sigyn would sit at her table, scanning recent tests on the Tesseract, but her main focus seemed to turn to Selvig and slight jealously in that he was hearing Loki in his head, whether he knew it or not, and she wasn't.

It was three months after Loki's partial astral projection of himself in her Maui hotel room since Sigyn had heard from him and she was growing antsy. She wanted to hear him and see him and frequently spent her nights lying awake in bed mentally beckoning for him to answer her call.

After a particularly stressful day, following her return to the facility after a weekend in the field, Sigyn took her frustrations out on the contents of her bunkroom. Her hair had slipped out of its ponytail and now flopped around her face in complete disarray as she sunk to the floor and laid back on it, staring up at the ceiling with tightly clenched fists and an equally clenched jaw.

"What is wrong, my love?"

Sigyn craned her neck and looked toward her personal bathroom that was connected to her bunkroom. The door was open and she could see straight inside toward the mirror above the small, metal sink. And there, in the reflective glass surface was Loki staring back at her with concern on his face.

Clambering to her feet, she stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, gripping the edge of the sink with both hands as she looked him in the eye. "I've had a particularly trying few days."

"What happened?"

Sigyn smirked. "Do you truly care to know?"

"I truly do," he replied. He looked much better than their last tête-à-tête; his face was clean, his cuts and bruises gone, his hair a bit longer. There were dark circles around his eyes, which looked tired, though; as if he hadn't slept in weeks. "You are my wife and I care about your well-being above anything else."

Sighing, Sigyn looked down and ran a hand through her hair and scratching her scalp for a moment before looking back at him. "I was sent on a short mission away from here, to a place called Samaara in the country of Iraq. A terrorist group moving under the radar planned to use old weapons created by Stark Industries, which they modified, to take out rival insurgents. Innocent men, women and children were killed. We were sent in and took the terrorist, but I can't shake the image of those dead children. I've walked this world for so long and seen the humans constantly killing each other, usually for pointless reasons, and I'll never get used to seeing children die." Sigyn looked away from the mirror, from Loki. "It just makes me think about Narfi. He was grown when he died, but he was still just a child to me."

Sigyn looked back at Loki whose eyes were brimmed with tears, but his jaw was clenched as tightly as hers had been, preventing those tears from falling.

"I wish I knew what he looked like," Loki muttered.

"He was beautiful. As a child he looked so much like you. He had our eye color, but they were your eyes. Soft, dark hair that curled slightly at the ends, fair skin that became slightly golden when he spent many days in the sun, and such a bright outlook on life. He was sweet and charming, and he was one of the most polite beings I've ever had the honor of knowing. He made my life here worthwhile," she smiled, her mind distant as she recalled memories. Her smile quickly faded, though, as the memories turned dark. "But then he was murdered in cold blood and my rage knew no bounds."

"I trust you got revenge on his murderer for the both of us."

Sigyn locked eyes with him and nodded. "Oh, yes. I severed his murderer's head with the same blade he used to kill our son." She smirked a bit wickedly. To this day she had no regrets for what she did to James' descendants. "And then I gave his parents his head and burned their castle down with them in it."

Loki grinned proudly. "Good."

She hung her head down, staring at the drain. "Loki, I don't know that I can last here much longer. I've been alone for two hundred years. My father fell in love with a mortal woman who died of illness, and when he couldn't live without her, he took his own life and left me alone." She glanced back up. "I lived in a cave for almost a century because I couldn't bear to be part of this world. Were I as weak as my father was in his last years, I would've taken my life as well, but I clung to the hope I would see you again and my hope wasn't for naught. I knew you would come find me and bring me home and I know you still will, even if that home is not Asgard anymore. I just want to be with you, and not alone."

"I want terribly to be at your side, as well, my love, and I will as soon as I can get Selvig to do what needs to be done with the Tesseract so I can gain access to it," he replied in earnest. "Only then can I come to you."

"I keep bouncing back and forth between sanity and insanity, I think. This world, with all its insufferable creatures, who slaughter each other in droves, is driving me mad. I cannot remain here alone anymore," she pleaded. "At least, not in this world's current state. It needs a change." She looked away for a moment and then smirked before looking back at Loki. "We could change it."

Loki smiled lovingly at her. "My beautiful queen," he cooed. "Great minds think alike."

"What do you mean?"

"That is what all this has been about." He paused, looking away as if something on his end had momentarily distracted him. "Everything I have been doing and everything I have had you do for me is building up to something. The Tesseract is the key to all of it. When Selvig gets it working at the right moment, it will create a portal I can come through. I will have an army lying in wait for my command."

Sigyn perked up at this. "What do you mean to do with this army, my husband?" She flashed a toothy and eager grin at him.

"I mean to rule," he answered. "I will be the world's king, and you its queen." Sigyn was about to reply to that when he continued. "However, I do have an ulterior motive something I cannot openly reveal to you just now. You cannot be too careful with who might be listening in."

"So tell me telepathically."

"Soon," he said. "I must tend to a few pressing matters. My, shall we say, benefactor requires an update on the Tesseract's progress and he isn't one to be kept waiting."

Sigyn grew concerned. "Are you well, Loki, wherever you are? You're not hurt and saving face for my sake, are you?"

Loki glanced appreciatively at her. "I am well enough," he assured. "I will be much better when I am returned to your side."

She smiled. "Do not wait so long to contact me again or I shall do something drastic."

"Well, as long as it's nothing I wouldn't do."

"I am fairly certain that isn't much," Sigyn snickered.

"You're probably correct in that assumption." He chuckled a bit but then looked off again. "I must go. I love you."

"I love you, too."

 

* * *

 

Loki was true to his word and opened communication with her more frequently. More often than not, all he managed was a quick 'I love you' in her mind while she was wiling away the hours at the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. facility. It brought a smile to her lips at random times which sometimes confused the other scientists, who would ask what it was she was smiling about. She would simply lie and say she was remembering a funny story, or picturing some sort of hilarious scenario.

By late April, Sigyn had heard through the grapevine that Steve Rogers' body was found in the Arctic and he had been preserved, and was still alive. It had something to do with the super soldier serum that had changed him into the man he became during Project: Rebirth. She couldn't help but think of Peggy, who she now knew to be living in a retirement facility which could better look after her now that she was quite old and stricken with Alzheimer's disease.

Sigyn had gone back, only once, to visit Peggy in the last few months; prepared to keep up the act that she was Astrid, granddaughter of Millie, whom was friends with Peggy during the war. However, in Peggy's demented state, she slipped back into her memories, thinking it was still during the war and called Sigyn Millie, recanting some event which seemed recent to her, when it had actually happened some seventy years prior. Honestly, it was nice to drop the act and stop being Astrid for a while. In reverting back to pretending to be Millie, Sigyn was able to use her normal speaking voice once more and converse easily with Peggy like they once had.

She was honestly sad to see Peggy in such a way, but at least she got to see she had lived a long life and could be there when she died. Looking practically identical to her ancestor, Peggy was like a replacement for the original Astrid. It was as if Sigyn had been given a second chance with her first human friend, to be there till the end, when she couldn't the first time around.

Days after the news about Rogers' return to the land of the living, Clint showed up to the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. facility on Fury's express orders of both guarding the Tesseract, as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most important possession, and investigating Erik Selvig's current, strange behavior.

The full effects of Loki's manipulation, lack of sleep and most likely the constant, close contact with the Tesseract was really starting to take its hold on Selvig, and part of Sigyn felt a little bad as she watched him appear to be slowly descending toward the brink of a mental breakdown.

Sigyn greeted Clint with a nod when she noticed he had arrived, standing on a platform a few feet behind her with Selvig standing at his side, greeting him as well.

No one else seemed to notice it, other than Sigyn, but she saw not just Selvig's reflection in the mirror at his left, but also Loki's reflection. And, as Selvig spoke something to Clint, she saw Loki's lips move as well. Sigyn simply rolled her eyes and smirked, turning her attention back to fiddling around with some advances that had been made thanks to the new element discovered by Tony Stark. It was allowing the her and the other scientists working in the project to create several power surges, hoping to stabilize the direct current and maintain a safe level of input and output energy over time.

But she knew Loki's arrival was only days out now. Any and all last minute pawns were being moved into play and Sigyn had consigned herself to not doing much more work. She spoke with Loki in her downtime, in her bunk, when he asked her who would be useful to them when he arrived. Selvig would obviously continue to work at furthering along the Tesseract's true purpose of creating a wormhole to bring the Chitauri forth when Loki was ready for them. The only other person Sigyn could think of wanting at their side to help them was Clint.

"The archer?" he asked, when she offered her suggestion.

"Yes. I think he could be very useful, indeed."

"Could he gather a team to do my bidding?"

"I am certain he could with a little incentive."

Loki smirked. "Oh, don't worry about that. I have been given something that will do just the trick."

 

* * *

 

On the 1st of May, Sigyn was sitting off to the side of the facility's vacuum chamber, pretending to be rechecking some stats on the Tesseract when she saw Fury arrive. The Tesseract had been acting up in the last couple of days, turning itself on, though Sigyn knew it was most likely Loki, on the other end, testing the portal and trying to come through.

Fury stepped forward, looking particularly ominous with his usual eye patch and black leather jacket, as he looked away over at Selvig who was standing behind a CMS machine. "Talk to me, doctor."

Sigyn looked over at the Tesseract, which was being held by a Compact Muon Solenoid coil chamber, and was a glowing unusually brighter, as flared rings shot out at random. Selvig looked concerned as he stepped out from behind the CMS machine and greeted Fury.

"Director."

"Is there anything we know for certain?"

"The Tesseract is misbehaving."

Fury flashed the good doctor a withering look with his lone eye. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's...misbehaving."

"How soon until you pull the plug?"

Selvig looked as if he wanted to snicker as he replied. "She's an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..."

Fury cut him off. "We've prepared for this, doctor; harnessing energy from space."

"We don't have the harness," Selvig remarked, exasperated. "Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

" _That_ can be harmful," the Director commented. "Where's Barton?"

"The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual."

Sigyn followed both men's gazes up toward the rafters of the chamber behind them where Clint sat, leaning on the railings and dressed in full, black tactical gear, just like on any other mission. Normally, Sigyn wore something similar but at the moment she work a pair of slacks, a simple blouse and a white lab coat.

She smiled.

Tonight was the night.

After Clint had joined Fury down below, the two began to converse somewhat privately with each other as Sigyn continued to watch from the sidelines while pretending to actually work.

"I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things," Fury spoke.

"Well, I see better from a distance."

"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?"

One of the NASA scientist called over to Selvig, which neither Fury nor Clint seemed too focused on. "Doctor, it's spiking again."

Sigyn looked toward the Tesseract with delighted anticipation. It had been a year since she seen Loki in the flesh and this second reunion was a long time coming, because this time, it would be for good.

"No one's come or gone. Its oven is clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s," Clint continued. "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

Fury stopped. "At _this_ end?"

Sigyn looked over at the pair and smirked. She was almost proud to know that Clint was more than just a pretty face who could hit any target.

"Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides."

Selvig was tapping away at a keyboard, seeing on the monitoring his worst nightmares. Suddenly, the Tesseract thundered and shook the entire facility. Everyone began to look toward it with frayed nerves, save for Sigyn, whose nerves were blazing with excitement. The flaring rings and glow of the cube spouted out brighter and louder, like a boiling pot of water. The Tesseract's energy built up into a beam much like the Bifrost Bridge, as it hit at the end of a platform that was wired to the CMS device. The great maelstrom beam fired the Tesseract energy and then formed a vortex which then opened up a portal.

The black hole had been created and Sigyn began to drop all pretense of caring about her job with S.H.I.E.L.D. She stepped away from the sidelines and looked toward the portal, at the blackness of space; so beautiful and mysterious, strewn with a billion stars appears and it made her pine for the days of her youth on Asgard when she could glimpse galaxies and nebulas from her bedroom window.

A sudden gust of blue energy clouds filled the room, momentarily blinding everyone. As they gathered their wits about them, the Tesseract's energy formed into a cloud that reached to the top the facility's vacuum chamber ceiling.

It was all abnormally quiet for a moment, but then heavy breathing could be heard from the platform. S.H.I.E.L.D. guards slowly approached, weapons in hands, as a figure could be seen kneeling on the platform, smoke coming off it.

Sigyn was grinning now, but no one was paying attention to her. They were all looking at the same thing.

Loki.

Kneeling on one leg, he smiled quite mischievously as he raised his head. He looked into the eyes of Fury, Barton, Selvig, and lastly on Sigyn. As his smile faded, he stood up; holding a scepter.

"Sir, please put down the spear," Fury called out, which turned Loki's attention back to the Director.

Sigyn could almost feel the dread and panic beginning to wash over the scientists who weren't used to pending physical altercations like the one about to happen. She stepped forward, slinking around behind Fury and Barton just as Loki reacted looking briefly down at his spear and then suddenly pointing it at where Fury and Clint are standing and shot out a blue exploding light at them. Clint tackled Fury; both barely missing being struck by Loki's fired shot.

 _Careful with Barton_ , Sigyn chastised Loki mentally as all hell began to break loose.

Machine gun fire was shot at Loki, but the bullets bounced off him as he jumped high from the platform to attack those firing at him. In the blink of an eye, Loki took down several guards with his knives and energy blasts from the scepter. He stopped and waited to see who would attack him next but no one seemed to be in any position to attempt such a feat. In truth, the whole lab had practically gone to shit. Those who weren't killed or, in some cases, completely obliterated by the spear's energy, were lying on the ground, quietly writhing in pain. Loki glanced over at Sigyn who gestured with her head toward Clint, who was trying to stand up. Loki quickly walked towards him and Clint raised his gun, but Loki grabbed the man's hand.

"You have heart," Loki remarked, pointing the tip of his spear upon Clint's chest.

Clint's eyes quickly went completely black, and he obediently holstered his gun as Loki's control over the archer's mind had taken affect. Clint was left standing there, now with eyes that glowed blue like the energy from both the Tesseract and the scepter alike, while Fury looked on with concern and confusion.

Sigyn moved around, slipping out of her lab coat and draping it casually over a chair which hadn't been knocked over in the assault. She stepped past Fury, who looked briefly up at her from where he remained crouched at the base of the Compact Muon Solenoid coil chamber. Loki had moved over to another member of S.H.I.E.L.D personnel and did the same to him that he did to Clint.

"Please don't," Sigyn called out, reverting back to her natural speaking voice for good. Loki followed her gaze toward Fury who had placed the Tesseract into its case and was trying to retreat. "We still need that."

Fury stopped in his tracks, his back to Loki and Sigyn. "This doesn't have to get any messier."

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else." Fury turned around as Loki now spoke. "I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

Sigyn beamed with pride as she sidled up beside her husband, and kissed him; catching a confused look from the Director.

Selvig stood up from where he had been checking on a downed scientist and stepped forward; quite intrigued, despite everything that had just transpired. "Loki? Brother of Thor?"

Loki rolled his weary eyes and gritted his teeth.

"We have no quarrel with your people."

Thoughtfully, "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

Fury shifted his weight and looked a bit pissed off. "You planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free."

"Free from what?"

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart..." Like a gunslinger, Loki turned to face Selvig, who was standing behind him and Sigyn, and placed his spear against Selvig's heart. Selvig's eyes glowed black, and then remained blue like Clint's and the guard's eyes. "You will know peace."

"Yeah, you say peace; I kind of think you mean the other thing."

From the vacuum chamber ceiling, the Tesseract's energy cloud was rapidly building into what may be an implosion. Clint looked up noticing such.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling," Clint informed as he approached both Loki and Sigyn. "This place is about to blow; drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

"Like the Pharaohs of Old," Fury replied, not denying his motives.

Selvig looked over at the screen of the CMS machine. "He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

Loki looked at Clint. "Well, then..."

Without even hesitating, Clint whipped out his gun and shot Fury in the chest. As the S.H.I.E.L.D. director flew back Loki and Sigyn began to stalk off. Clint grabbed the case containing the Tesseract; leaving the lab with Loki, Sigyn, Selvig and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel Loki was controlling.

They wasted no time making their way out of the lab, with Sigyn placing her hand onto Loki's lower back as he slowed and momentarily seemed to catch his breath. She took the time to look at his face and how dark the rings were around his eyes, how sallow his skin was and the sheen of sweat. She wasn't sure if it was his journey through the portal or whatever he'd been dealing with on the other side that made him look the way he currently appeared. She took his right hand in his and gave it a squeeze as they all looked straight ahead.

Out in the parking lot of the facility, they were met with Agent Hill who watched them approach with confusion clearly written on her face.

"We need these vehicles," Clint stated, pointing to two of the vehicles parked nearest them.

Hill looked at Loki and how Sigyn climbed up onto the bed the truck with him and knitted her brow. "Who's that?"

Clint more or less brushed her off. "He didn't tell me."

Selvig, now holding the Tesseract in its case hopped into the passenger seat of the truck as Hill looked suspiciously at them and then turned to leave. Loki was crouched down, gripping his spear in one hand and the railing along the side of the truck's bed with the other while Sigyn sat behind him, also gripping the railing opposite and holding onto his coat. However, as Hill began to walk away, Fury suddenly radioed her and Loki and Sigyn both snapped their heads in her direction.

" _Hill, do you copy?"_

Clearly, Clint's shot had not been fatal.

" _Barton and Thorne are turned."_

Without missing a beat, Clint shot at Hill but she was quick enough to duck and roll out of the way and begin to fire back at him while he climbed into the driver's seat of the truck. The S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel took the car and followed behind Clint as they quickly drove off, with a barrage of bullets from Hill's gun ricocheting off the truck in a lame attempt to stop them.

Sigyn grabbed tighter to Loki's coat and moved her hand around to his waist. "Are you doing alright?" she asked with concern.

"I'm fine, my love."

"You don't look fine."

"It is nothing, I assure you." He turned his head to glance back at her. "How are you?" he asked, a slightly impish glint in his eye.

"Better, now that you're here."

Loki licked his lips and grinned. He turned from crouching sideways to face the back of the vehicle, still gripping the railing with his left hand as he leaned forward when he saw Hill approaching at breakneck speed in a jeep. It was like a cat and mouse game he was greatly enjoying and he was readying himself for his own attack.

The truck and car sped along as other S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles containing agents tried to stop Loki and his team by trailing them and shooting at them. Hill's vehicle was not far behind. Loki, however, was not to be deterred. He readied himself and aimed his scepter as the energy within it began to build before he shot it at several of the pursuing vehicles. Several flipped or crashed; killing or injuring the occupants within.

He smiled, pleased with himself while Sigyn turned to look forward, the wind in the tunnel whipping through her hair. She narrowed her gaze, at their path that lay ahead just as Hill's jeep suddenly appeared from another tunnel, cutting them off. Wheels screeched as she spun the vehicle around so that she was facing them.

"The Deputy Director thinks herself clever," Sigyn remarked with a slight chuckle.

As Hill tried to keep her jeep straight and throw it in reverse, Clint smashed their truck into her front grill, pushing her along with them. Both began to shoot at each other and Sigyn ducked out of the way of a stray bullet just in time. Clint zigzagged the truck enough to throw Hill off them as her jeep spun around. He hit the gas at the same moment the Tesseract's energy cloud had shrunk into a small ball of white light and then rapidly shot out a blastwave of energy, which began to consume and implode on the entire facility and surrounding desert area.

Loki grabbed Sigyn and pushed her gently down below him like a shield as the tunnel began to collapse, with Hill still hot on their trail, but not for long. The stone walls crumbled and fell apart too quickly for her to catch up to them in time and she found herself buried as he all came down around her. The truck and car made it out of the tunnel in time as the entire facility seemed to become one giant crater.

Overhead, a helicopter flew, circling the truck and the car. Loki stood up and held onto the truck's back rack while Sigyn remained crouched below him. She peered upward, squinting through the dirt and dust that was kicked up by the truck's wheels as Clint turned the truck and headed off-road. Loki's own eyes peered upward as well, but he was focused on Fury throwing open a door to the helicopter and aiming his pistol and opening fire. Fury was able to shoot through the windshield, however missing both Clint and Selvig.

In retaliation, Loki shot a blast of blue energy at the helicopter, taking it out. The chopper became alight with flames and spun out of control in a quick descent to the ground. When it got low enough, Fury jumped out before it crashed, but was up quick enough to aim and shoot at the truck once more. The truck was, however, out of range for the director and back on the main road, driving off into the desert.

Loki let out a flustered sigh, looking back over his shoulder before looking down at Sigyn.

"What a rush," he snickered.

Sigyn shook her head and smiled as she got to her knees and hit the glass of the back window. "You boys alright in there?"

"Never better, ma'am," Clint answered over the din of the engine revving as they sped along.

Sigyn looked back up at Loki who was slowly sinking down to sit across from her. "Did you hear that? Barton called me ma'am. This morning he was calling me Astrid."

"Who's Astrid?"

"My current identity; Astrid Thorne," she replied. "I took it from the name of the woman who was my friend when I first arrived to this rock."

Loki nodded knowingly. "The woman whose descendant murdered our son?"

"An unfortunate turn of events I will never forget." Sigyn frowned and looked to her right, toward the destruction they'd left behind. "Astrid and her children were wonderful. I loved them as if they were my own flesh and blood. After they were gone, my ties with her family began to wane. A few I kept in touch with for decades." She brought her gaze back to Loki who was looking intently at her. "Hindsight being what it is, I wish I would've severed ties with Astrid's son's family. It was that branch which ruined my life and took our son's."

"What of the other branch; the daughter's?" he inquired as they drove along in relative calm, further into the desert.

"I lost track of it for a great many years, but I rediscovered it about eighty years ago. A child, a girl named Peggy who would grow up to look almost identical to my dear friend Astrid." Sigyn smirked. "It's uncanny how two people, on descended from the other, but their generations many centuries apart, can look so alike. I couldn't help but befriend her."

"Where is she now, this descendant? Could she be of use to us?"

Sigyn shook her head. "She is very old now, plagued with dementia and death is probably months to a few years away from her."

"I am sorry you will be losing another friend." His response was kind and genuine.

"I've come to accept the constant loss," she shrugged. "Humans live but a blink of an eye compared to us. Their lives are so fleeting."

Loki set his scepter down beside him but kept it in place by pressing his boot upon it. He reached his hand out to her and, when she took it, he pulled her forward and turned her about so that she was now seated between his legs. Sigyn leaned back into his chest and smiled as he encircled his arms around her and buried his face into the crook of her neck.

"We need to get you out of these human clothes and into something more becoming of a queen," he remarked, placing a kiss upon her earlobe.

Sigyn practically cooed at the gesture. "I'd like to get you out of your clothes as well."

"Naughty," he tutted and then grinned, while giving her lobe a playful bite before leaning back.

"You need some food and rest in you first," she insisted. "You can deny it all you want, but I can see with my own eyes your body has been through a lot of stress and I will not accept anything less than your compliance."

"It will take a short while to reach our next destination, yes?"

Sigyn nodded. "I've secured the assistance we'll need. We have an aircraft waiting for us with the ability to disappear from physical view and drop off radar at the press of a button. It will take us where we're headed. I've been assembling plenty of help these last months. They'll all just need that extra push of obedience from that scepter of yours."

Loki grinned. "A husband has never been more proud of his wife than I am of you right now," he remarked. "Your unwavering loyalty toward me and your obvious talents of persuasion over these dull creatures is not lost on me. I will be more than happy to oblige you and take a bit of rest, so long as you will take it with me."

"You know I will."

"I do."

"Though, I doubt how much rest will actually be acquired once we are left alone together."

"None at all if I have anything to say about it."

Sigyn snickered, leaning further back into Loki and snuggling in as the truck rambled along. They had no tail on them, as far as they could see, and were thus free to take a moment to breathe and enjoy the quiet together before further chaos ensued.


	28. Sight

* * *

 

A new day had already arrived for most of the world by the time Loki and Sigyn had made berth in an undisclosed, underground facility teeming with several soldiers under Loki's mind control, running around, preparing for whatever Loki had planned. Just as Sigyn had thought, Clint was able to quickly get in contact with plenty of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enemies and "offer them a deal." A tap to their heart with his spear and Loki was able to turn them all into obedient, little worker bees to do his bidding without question as soon as they arrived. Any who tried to back out before Loki could approach them were _dealt with_ accordingly.

While they had waited for their underground numbers to grow, Loki and Sigyn had wandered off to get a feel for the nooks and crannies, for two main reasons. One, Loki needed a place to meditate in private to converse with The Other by astral projecting himself back to Chitauri space, and two, they wanted their own alone time as well.

There were no beds, only a few military grade cots here and there but none dared use them to get any sleep for fear that Loki might take offense and see them as slacking off. He and Sigyn didn't bother with them either, instead utilizing the floor of the same room he would later meditate in.

Sigyn couldn't peel his armor and coat away fast enough. He leaned against two crates that were stacked one on top of the other, sort of sitting on the topmost one, and gripping the edges of it as she trailed her fingers along every crease and contour of his clothing. She stood in front of him, between his legs, which he parted enough for her to do so. She leaned forward to nuzzle his jaw with her nose and he met the gesture with a smile while summoning one of his small knives with magic and cutting her out of the clothes she had worn out of the P.E.G.A.S.U.S. facility.

"I make no apologies for destroying those garments," he commented when she mock protested. "They do not suit you as finely as what I have imagined for my queen."

"Perhaps something with gold armor epaulets like yours?" she smirked before leaning further to nip playfully at his neck.

"Perhaps."

"A little bit of leather to make me look imposing, and maybe a lace and silk underlay to balance the ensemble," she jested.

"Anything for you, my love." Loki reached his hands up and gripped her face firmly, placing his lips eagerly down upon hers. "When we are alone, however," he spoke between kisses, "I would prefer you like this." He removed his hands from her face and snaked them down her bare body, letting his fingers do the roaming.

"I second that preference, but for you."

He was down to only his slacks, his green undershirt and boots by then. Sigyn would've gladly ripped his clothes from him the same way he did to her, but he wasn't in the position to attain the same outfit unless he walked around naked and projected the illusion of being fully clothed upon anyone who crossed his path. Instead, she settled for pulling his shirt off over his head and tossing if over her shoulder while working at shimmying his pants off his hips. Then, without warning, he lifted her up and spun them around, walking them over against the wall where he pinned her with a wicked smile that made her giggle.

"I remember our first time," she cooed when their bodies connected. "You were so gentle then."

"Am I too rough for you now?" he inquired, a mix of equal parts concern, lust, love and mischief in his eyes.

"Oh, Loki, I have never been a delicate flower; less so now," Sigyn replied. "Truth be told, you're not rough enough."

"Well then," he thrust harder into her, making her instantly claw at his back in delight. "Challenge accepted."

 

* * *

 

When they were spent, and Loki was redressing himself, Sigyn had taken a seat on one of the crates that had gotten knocked over amidst their tryst and was still as bare as the day she came crying.

"So, what of that wonderful ensemble you promised me?" she wondered. "I daresay you wouldn't want me walking out into those tunnels where anyone could look upon me like this."

Loki threw her a look as he slid an arm through the first sleeve of his coat. "Definitely not. Your current lack of wardrobe, while being my favorite of yours, is for my eyes only," he snickered. "Give me a minute and let me see what I can do."

Sigyn watched as he finished up; crossing her legs and folding her hands on her lap while she waited. It took him no time at all to recompose himself and then move to stand directly in front of her, holding his hands out, parallel to each other. With a simple gesture of rolling his hands one over the other, several layers of fabric materialized out of thin air and draped over his hands. Loki took one step forward and bestowed it all upon Sigyn who took it with a smile.

"Did you just create this outfit in your mind or was it actually lying around somewhere and you merely summoned it?"

"I do believe there's a saying about not revealing the secrets to one's magic tricks."

Sigyn rolled her eyes playfully. "Says the man who taught me all the magic I know in our youth."

"Technically, you can thank my mother for that. She taught me most everything I know."

Standing up to inspect the clothes, Sigyn looked at Loki with a rueful smile. "How was Frigga, when last you saw her?" she asked, slipping into a green, floor-length silk underlay.

"Well, it was a year ago, and it was in Odin's chambers where he was sleeping. I had just killed Laufey and saved the day," he replied sarcastically. "She ran up to me and we embraced, ever so grateful I had saved Odin's life and protected the realm from the Frost Giant invasion which, of course, she was unaware at the time, was my doing. I've no doubt she knows the truth now. Then, Thor arrived like the gallant hero he was born to be and we fought. That was the last I saw of my mother." Loki frowned. "The last time I laid eyes upon her, she looked at me with confusion; not understanding right away why Thor and I were arguing and why I was so ready to fight him."

"A mother never wants to see her children distressed," Sigyn remarked, looking away from Loki so she could step into the black, mesh and lace outer dress. It was a rather pencil line dress, but it offered two knee-length slits on either side of the skirt so she could easily move around.

"You would know wouldn't you?"

He hadn't said the comment in any sort of jealous or malicious manner; just stating fact, though with a little sadness tinged around the edges.

Sigyn shrugged and nodded. "Yes," was all she said in response. Now really wasn't the time for a long-winded oration of the love and loss she felt for their long dead son.

Loki moved behind her as she slipped into a leather corset that went on the outside of the dress. It was similar to the crisscrossed, leather design of his tunic, which he wore over his green shirt but under his coat. He offered his assistance in helping her lace it up in the back while she stood there adjusting her sleeves. Since he had conjured no shoes, she was left with the leather boots she had already been wearing earlier, which worked out just fine; it went with the rest of the outfit quite well.

"No epaulets, pauldrons or vambraces?" she inquired with an impish raise of her eyebrow when she turned around to look at him.

"When we later find ourselves amid a battle, I shall provide the protection you'll need then."

Sigyn stepped close and ran her hands through his hair, sleeking back behind his ears so he no longer looked disheveled from sex. She wanted him to look as put together as possible in order for him to deal with his soldiers and insurgents because she knew deep down that there was something beneath the surface, within him, that was considerably on edge. It was understandable, in her eyes. In the last year, his entire world had been turned upside down. He learned he had fathered a son who had been murdered in cold blood, and that information had been kept from him by the man he had believed to be his father, only to learn he was the true son and heir of Laufey, the king of the Frost Giants. That meant that he, Loki, was biologically none other than a Frost Giant as well; the monster they were told stories about at night as children. While Sigyn insisted he was no such creature, she knew he saw himself as one, but that he more or less figured he might as well make lemonade with those lemons.

She was also sure that more had happened to him after his fall through the ether. He mentioned the creature he called "The Other" only briefly, and some unnamed benefactor who was giving him his army in exchange for the Tesseract. He wouldn't tell her any of those details of what happened, other than he had seen and been to worlds beyond those of Yggdrasil. Little by little she had gleamed details from him; some she began to figure out for herself and some he openly admitted when she asked.

Sigyn wasn't going to lie and say she wasn't a bit worried about what this deal with Loki's supposed benefactor entailed meant for him, or them both. What would this benefactor do with the Tesseract once he had it? Would he double-cross Loki and use it against him? Would he destroy Midgard? What plan did Loki have to secure their safety if this mission to claim this world as their own failed? If he failed to get the benefactor the Tesseract, what retaliation would the benefactor see fit to use on Loki?

These were the thoughts running through the back of Sigyn's mind and she was sure were running through his as well, however good he was at not revealing so.

"You look like a queen no matter what you're wearing or _not_ wearing, but considerably more so now," he grinned down at her. "A sight for sore eyes, to be sure."

"You do not look half as bad yourself," she quipped in return, plucking at the lapel of his coat.

Running a hand over her arm, he then took both her hands in his and looked at them. "I am going to need to be alone for a little while as I meditate and communicate with The Other." He looked her in the eye. "I'll need you to make sure no one disturbs me. Any questions or concerns anyone has, they can bring to you."

Sigyn nodded. "Of course, my love."

Meeting him halfway for a kiss, she stepped away and exited the room they were in and walked off through the awaiting tunnel without as much as a look back over her shoulder. She turned a few corners and made her way toward the makeshift lab where Selvig was busying himself, working around a CMS device.

Several soldiers walked past her, nodding their heads and greeting her with a respectful, "ma'am." She saw Clint instructing some operative about something and he looked back at her when he sensed her presence.

"Ma'am," he greeted like the others, walking up to her.

"Barton." She watched the others milling around like bees in a hive, and there she was: their queen.

"Might I ask a bold question?"

"As long as you're prepared to possibly receive a bold answer."

There was a ghost of a smirk on his lips, but his eyes, which glowed blue from Loki's control, looked rather dead and void of any emotion. "I understand you're married to Loki, correct?"

"I am."

"How long has it been?"

"That we've been married?" Off Clint's nod, she replied, "Since the day after I first came to earth; eight hundred and forty-two years."

She watched Clint doing the math in his head. "You arrived here in the 12th century?" Despite being as much of mindless drone like the rest, he still maintained his own personality. "That's…a long time."

"1170, to be exact. I came to earth through the Bifrost, like Thor did last year, but I made berth in the Scottish Highlands." Sigyn didn't mind revealing these details about herself anymore. There was no reason left to hide. The simple act of openly showing she was with Loki back at the P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Facility had guaranteed she could never pretend to be anyone else other than who she truly was. "You know now my name isn't Astrid Thorne. Astrid was the woman who found me when I first arrived. She and her two children took me in and became like family to me. Agent Peggy Carter, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founders is descended from Astrid's daughter Mary, though Peggy is unaware of that."

Clint knitted his brow. "You knew Agent Carter?"

Sigyn nodded. "I did. We were friends during World War II. I was Millie Thorne then, my most recent identity's grandmother," she replied with widened eyes and a smirk for effect.

"But I've seen the picture in your bunk of you and your grandmother. It's in that photo album you kept."

"Illusion, dear Barton. That was me, as Millie, and some teen girl who lived at the same commune as I at that time. I altered her appearance for the sake of the photograph to secure proof of my next identity."

"If you don't mind me saying, ma'am: that is fucking genius."

"Yes, I suppose." They both fell silent and then she began to fidget as an air of awkwardness settled in between them. "You should see to Selvig and make sure he's staying on course with his task. He's been exposed to Loki's knowledge far longer than the rest of you and I would like to be sure his mortal brain is handling it as well as can."

"On it," Clint announced, walking over to the lab area where Selvig was, separated by a wall of thick plastic as if quarantined due to a contagious disease.

Sigyn watch other scientists and lab techs going over data as Selvig turned and assisted them when they showed him their findings. Clint muttered something to another passing soldier, and then began a conversation Sigyn was not privy to.

She stood up and turned back down the tunnel she came out of and made her way back toward Loki, curious to know if he was still communing with The Other.

As she neared the archway to the room, she was witness to Loki, seated Indian-style on the floor with his scepter in hand and his back to her as she approached. He was perfectly still, staring straight ahead. To Sigyn, all she saw was the opposite wall, but for Loki, she could only imagine what he was seeing. She remained silent as the grave as she stood there waiting, until suddenly his head jerked to the side and he let out a sharp hiss.

She didn't know what had just happened; what he had seen, heard or felt.

She just waited for him to sense she was there and make the move to get up and approach her, which he did in a matter of moments.

Loki turned his head and looked over his shoulder, noticing her in his peripheral vision. "Have you been there long?"

"No."

"Is Selvig any closer?"

"I assume so."

"Assuming doesn't help," he spat.

Sigyn pursed her lips and clenched her jaw, taking a subconscious step back. "Neither does snipping at me, dear husband."

Loki closed his eyes and inhaled a steadying breath. "I am sorry, Sigyn. My benefactor and the Chitauri are growing restless. We need to move things along as soon as possible."

"I understand," Sigyn nodded, as she watched him slowly get to his feet. "You are under considerable stress, and I am envious of how well you are managing it all."

Loki looked upon her with a lame smile.

They may have spent more than eight centuries apart, but she knew him just as well now she did before their separation. She knew when he was hiding something more from her, and this was another of those moments.

"How diplomatic of you to say," he quipped as he approached her and placed the hand not holding the scepter upon her arm.

Sigyn looked at him and studied his eyes and face and she knew he was aware she was doing so, but he said nothing to the fact.

He wouldn't let her know what had his nerves currently on end.

He wouldn't let her know that The Other had been able to read his mind and find Sigyn there in it.

He wouldn't let her know that the pain The Other had shown him in his mind wasn't his own physical pain.

He wouldn't let her know that the pain he was threatened with was Sigyn being tortured at the hands of Thanos and violently murdered while all he would be able to do is stand idly by and watch.

 

* * *

 

"Where did you find all these people?" Selvig was asking Clint while he fiddled with a screwdriver in his hands.

Clint was busy, looking down at a tablet device. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has no shortage of enemies, Doctor." Holding up the tablet so Selvig could see the information on the screen, he asked, "Is this the stuff you need?"

"Yeah, iridium; it's found in meteorites. It forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of."

"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it."

"Well, I didn't know!" Selvig stated before looking over Clint's shoulder and seeing both Loki and Sigyn approaching. He smiled. "Hey! The Tesseract has shown me so much. It's more than knowledge; it's truth."

"I know. It, uh…touches everyone differently," Loki smiled back as Selvig nodded in agreement. "What did it show you, Agent Barton?" he wondered, looking at Clint.

Clint, all business, turned around to face Loki and responded, "My next target."

Selvig laughed. "Stick in the mud; he's got no soul." To Clint, who gave him a death stare, he joked, "No wonder you chose this tomb to work in."

"Well the Radisson doesn't have three levels of lead lining between S.H.I.E.L.D. and that cube."

Selvig simply nodded and walked away, while Loki focused on Clint.

"I see why Fury chose you to guard it," he commented as hem Sigyn and Clint began to walk off together.

"You're gonna have to contend with him, sir. As long as he's in the air, I can't pin him down. He's gonna be putting together a team."

"Are they a threat?"

Sigyn scoffed. "To each other more than likely."

Clintnodded in agreement to Sigyn. "But if Fury can get 'em on track, and he might, it can throw some noise our way."

"You admire Fury," Loki deduced with underlying derision.

"He's got a clear line of sight."

"Is that why you failed to kill him?" Scowling, Loki picked up his pace and headed into the tunnel, with Sigyn following, but Clint stopped.

"It might be," Clint readily admitted. "I was disoriented, and I'm not at my best with a gun."

Loki turned, facing Clint, a finger pointed. "I want to know everything you can tell me about this team of his. I would test their metal. I weary of scuttling in shadow. I mean to rule this world, not _burrow_ in it."

"It's a risk."

Loki grinned excitedly, which caused Sigyn to smirk. "Oh yes."

"If you're set on making yourself known, it could be useful."

Loki walked back out of the tunnel, Sigyn in tow, still smiling. "Tell me what you need."

Grabbing his bow, Clint replied, "I need a distraction." Then, looking at Loki, added, "And an eyeball."


	29. Out of Shadows

* * *

 

"I remember the last time I had use for a fancy dress where you and I were involved."

Stepping off the down ramp of their presently visible Quinjet, Loki adjusted the tie which was part of his human attire. Sigyn moved around to stand in front of him, swatting his hand away to adjust the tie for him and smooth it out down his chest, as well as making sure his appearance was as svelte as could be. Clint and few operatives descended the ramp around them and paused, waiting for orders to start moving with their mission.

"Refresh my memory," Loki smirked.

"The banquet held in honor of us returned shield maidens from our years of training. My dress then was much more loose and revealing than this, if I remember correctly." Sigyn looked down at the sparkly, formal gown she was wearing now. "I feel like a teenage debutante in this thing."

Loki leaned in and placed a kiss near her ear before whispering, "You look beautiful." He looked over at Clint. "Tell my wife how beautiful she looks, Barton."

"Very beautiful, ma'am." Clint looked at Sigyn with a respectful, approving nod, and then back to Loki, still awaiting his orders.

Loki placed a hand on Sigyn's shoulder, fixing her dress strap, and gave her a devilish smirk. _So beautiful that I would happily rip that dress from your body and ravish you here where we stand if I weren't so pressed for time_ , he added, telepathically.

Sigyn chuckled. "I'll hold you to that at a later date, then."

"Of course."

Clint looked between the pair with a bit of confusion; no idea what they were on about now. Despite being Loki's personal errand boy, he still had enough of his own wits about him. He had noticed at times that Loki and Sigyn looked to be saying something to each other without having to speak it out loud, almost as if they shared the same brain. It was a bit weird, but Clint never thought to question it. Right now, he was mainly focused on the basics of what he knew they needed to do and where they needed to go, but was waiting on the go ahead.

"Orders, sir?"

Offering his arm to Sigyn, which she took, Loki looked at Clint and nodded, "Fall out."

Clint nodded back and then gestured for the operatives to follow him; taking off toward the direction of museum's rear. Taking their time, Loki stepped away from the Quinjet with Sigyn as the pilot of the aircraft activated its cloaking mechanism so it remained hidden once again.

"How big of a distraction are you intending to make?"

"Oh," he grinned, "Fairly big."

"Fairly," she repeated with a laugh. "That's downplaying if ever I heard."

As they crossed to 28 Konigstraße, Sigyn looked up the Stuttgart museum. The last time she had been in Germany was at the start of World War II, when she had left the side of Johann Schmidt. She had wondered what had ever become of him following the end of the war. She assumed he had been killed by Steve Rogers, but there had been no sign of a body of either until recently, and even then it was just Rogers who was found and had survived.

"The humans certainly know how to throw a party," Loki quipped, as they entered into the gala being held. He and Sigyn looked no different than any other guest in attendance. He had even transformed his scepter to look like that of very ornately unconventional walking cane.

"I've been to more than my fair share over time and I can confirm they do indeed."

Loki looked at her as they stepped past a string quartet. "Had we the time to do so, I would ask you to dance, and twirl your around so I could make everyone here jealous of me for having someone as amazing as you."

"You have always had a way with words, my love."

"I would say I've gotten better with age, wouldn't you?"

"You have," she agreed with a smirk and a nod.

He gestured toward the mezzanine above. Moving rather undetected, the pair headed to an elevator, which Loki had no idea to work, so Sigyn pressed the buttons. He wanted to get a better view of the area and could only do that from a higher vantage point. Inside the elevator, Loki looked around at their confines and then smirked at Sigyn.

"I keep saying it, but had I the time to do it I would ravage you in here."

"You would ravage me _anywhere_ if you had the time," she snickered.

"Quite true."

The doors dinged and they stepped out, with Loki's eyes scanning for any possible threat as she stepped over to the mezzanine. And, as expected, he had the perfect view of the event from up above. He could see all exits and, more importantly, he could see the target Clint had spoken of back at the underground lab.

Dr. Heinrich Schäfer stood at a microphone, tapping on it, to get everyone's attention. Not far in front of him was a large sculpture of what looked to be a two-headed bilgesnipe and had a flat surface like that of a table. Sigyn watched Loki and could see the wheels in his head turning. He adjusted his scepter in his right hand and took Sigyn's hand in his left before giving the scepter a slight wave, as if scanning the crowd below.

"I need you to promise me something."

"Anything."

Loki smirked. She kept saying that whenever he wanted or needed her to do something. Giving her a knowing look and a squeeze to her hand, he began to walk off along the mezzanine with her. "I want you to promise me that should, for whatever reason, all of this go horribly not to plan, that you will deny me. Do not let them get to you and lock you away as some prisoner of theirs. Promise me you will pretend as if I had control over you like Barton or Selvig or any of the numerous others."

Sigyn didn't respond right away, which made Loki stop on the top step and turn to look at her expectantly.

"I need to hear you say you agree and will do as I say."

"That is something I cannot do," she replied defiantly.

"Sigyn…"

"I will not deny you," she insisted. "You are my husband. I spent way too long without you living freely in this world that I would be more than happy to live as a prisoner with you." She looked him endearingly in the eye, which made him stare back in love and respect. "It's you and I, forever and for always, beyond this life and the next, until time itself ceases to be. Do you remember that vow?"

Loki narrowed his eyes and nodded almost obediently. "I couldn't forget if I tried." Pulling her close to him, he pressed his lips down on hers and took the time to kiss his wife. "I promise I will give you all you deserve. We shall spend our days luxuriating with each other and, perhaps, start a new family together."

Narfi's face flickered into her mind. Of course, she would always be heartbroken over his death, but it had been so long and she knew he was at peace now. She was reunited with his father and had this new lease at life to start over with him.

"I would like nothing more than to start again."

Loki gave her a relieved and hopeful smile, studying her face momentarily. "My queen." He placed another kiss to her lips.

"My king."

Hand in hand they descended the rest of the stairs, this time their smiles gone and their faces expressing nothing but all business. They moved with fluidity and grace like a pair of ghosts gliding along. At the base of the stairs, Sigyn and Loki released hands as he stepped forward.

He was holding the scepter by the top and then threw it up into the air a bit, catching it at the base. Without missing a beat, he swung it at a museum guard who was too slow to react. The guard was knocked off his feet and the crowd of people gasped. Sigyn lingered behind with a smirk as Loki moved quickly forward, grabbing Dr. Schäfer by the back of the neck and dragging him over to the sculpture. The crowd back away; obviously frightened and confused, as Loki flipped Dr. Schäfer over onto the sculpture's flat surface. Sigyn had moved closer and without looking, he had tossed the scepter back to her so he could hold Dr. Schäfer down while he pulled out an optical torture device and plunged it into one of the doctor's eyes.

The crowd erupted into panic and chaos then while Dr. Schäfer writhed in pain. Loki merely looked up with satisfaction, breathing heavily, as he watched them all run like scattered mice away from a feral cat. Sigyn casually walked around to the other side of the sculpture and into Loki's line of sight while the device transmitted Dr. Schäfer's retinal scan back to Clint, who was using a similar device to open a vault containing the iridium they needed.

"He's going to need an eye patch," Sigyn remarked.

Loki smirked at her when the deed was done. The device was no longer needed so he tossed it to the floor and reached across to take the scepter back from her. "Like Fury," he quipped.

"Like _Odin_."

"Duly noted," he chuckled slightly.

Sigyn patted the poor doctor's leg. He was still very much alive, as there hadn't been a need to kill him. They only needed his eye, after all. Anything more would've been _over_ kill. " _Nichts für ungut, Herr Doktor. Du bist nur ein Mittel zum Zweck_ ," she spoke to him in his native tongue. She wasn't sure if he heard her or not. He was too busy crying in pain.

Loki caught her eye then. "Shall we?"

"We shall."

He offered his hand once more, and she took it, as he waved the scepter over her. Her formal Midgardian gown transformed back into the outfit she had been previously wearing at the underground lab, though now complete with some shoulder armor befitting a queen prepared for battle, including a golden diadem that wrapped around her forehead. Loki's outfit transformed back into full Asgardian regalia, including his green cape and horned helmet. The latter was something of which Sigyn had never had the honor of seeing him and she quite liked it.

Their entire transformation happened all while they walked out of the museum. Even the scepter transformed, and into a much longer length than it had previously been.

Sigyn was certain Loki did this mostly for effect; to present himself as the formidable man he was.

As they walked out onto the street, a police car approached with its sirens blaring. Without hesitation, Loki blasted it with the scepter, causing the vehicle to flip over and the panicked people to panic even further as Loki and Sigyn approached them all.

"Kneel before me," he demanded.

The crowd ignored him. Another Loki appeared, blocking the crowd. Loki after Loki appeared and all of them grinned as they raised their scepters; encircling the crowd and caging them in.

"I said," Loki banged the scepter down to the ground and shouted, "KNEEL!"

Sigyn stood back behind the real Loki watching as all the people dropped automatically to their knees. Some bowed their heads in fear while some looked up at Loki to see what would come next. Nevertheless, they all seemed to remain obedient.

Loki's doubles remained stern and stalwart while the real deal smiled and held his arms out at his sides. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" he questioned, stepping forward among the people while Sigyn remain put. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

Sigyn craned her neck as she watched an old man in the crowd stand up and look defiantly back at Loki.

"Not to men like you," the old man stated, resolute in his convictions.

Loki grinned. "There are no men like me."

The old man was unconvinced. "There are always men like you."

Still grinning, Loki announced, "Look to your elder, people." He aimed the scepter at the old man. "Let him be an example." He prepared to execute the old man; the light from his scepter glowing blue.

Just as an energy beam shot out, Steve Rogers in his Captain America suit seemingly dropped from out of nowhere and blocked the old man with his shield, in turn reflecting the blast and bouncing it back at Loki, knocking him down onto his own knees. Sigyn took a safe step back as Loki lifted his head.

Rogers moved forward through the crowd; a few standing back up now that a new presence had arrived to defend them. "You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

Loki stood up, with the assistance of the scepter, and grinned. "The soldier; the man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Rogers informed, just as a Quinjet (different from the one Loki's team had acquired) descended, hovering above the plaza. A machine gun appeared from underneath it and pointed at Loki.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," announced a female voice from within the Quinjet.

Sigyn knew it at once to belong to Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. She stared up with a defiant smirk, wishing she had some sort of weapon of her own to use so that she might assist her husband in the fight about to go down.

Like greased lighting, Loki sent a blast of blue at the Quinjet. Natasha maneuvered just in time for the aircraft to avoid being struck, which, in turn, give Rogers the time to throw his shield at Loki. Straightaway, both men began to fight. Loki flung Rogers to the ground and Rogers then threw his shield, but Loki easily swatted it way. Rogers, using all the moves of a boxer, is knocked down by Loki.

Standing over the Captain, Loki pointed the scepter's tip upon Rogers' helmet. "Kneel," he demanded.

"Not today!"

Rogers flipped and knocked Loki out with his leg. In turn, Loki grabbed Rogers and flipped him over.

Suddenly, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overrode the Quinjet's speakers just as Tony Stark, in his Iron Man suit, appeared in the sky and flew over both men below. Stark then blasted Loki back and touched down beside Rogers. Standing up, he pulled out every bit of machinery in his suit and aiming it all at Loki.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games." He looked over at Sigyn who stood not far behind now. "Maleficent."

Sigyn narrowed her eyes and scowled at the pair. Rogers seemed to look at her with recognition, though he couldn't place her face right away, or there just wasn't the time to announce he remembered her from her time with the SSR, so many decades ago, before his own personal ice age.

Loki sat back on the bit of steps of the plaza and raised his hands in surrender; the full regalia of his suit fading away to reveal the same outfit he first arrived on earth in. Ever dutiful to him, Sigyn walked up and sat down beside Loki; her hands also raised in surrender.

 _You were supposed to leave with Barton_ , he told her, telepathically.

_No can do, my love. You and I to the end, and I mean it._

They exchanged a brief look and the armor covering her faded as well Stark recoiled his weaponry from them.

"Good move," Stark commented.

"Stark," Rogers greeted.

"Captain," Stark reciprocated.

 _Well, this should be interesting_ , Loki remarked in Sigyn's mind. _I really wish you would've left when you had the chance._

_If wishes were horses, beggars would ride._

The pair stayed put as the Quinjet landed on a cleared area of the plaza. A small blast of air from the aircraft's descent billowed out, ruffling both Sigyn and Loki's hair only slightly. When the Quinjet doors opened, Stark and Rogers gestured for the couple to stand up. Stark, having more machinery, grabbed Loki by the arm as Rogers did the same with Sigyn.

Natasha appeared at the end of the ramp with two sets of cuffs.

"Have we met before?" Rogers questioned quietly to Sigyn as they approached Natasha, keeping his grip on her arm as firm as possible.

Sigyn smirked. "I must have one of those faces."

Loki heard her reply, but kept his smirk inward. He didn't want to give these people anything to go on. At least, not yet, anyway.

Natasha looked warily at Loki as he approached with Stark and then scowled at Sigyn. "Long time, no see, _Astrid_ ," she greeted with cool-headed venom in her voice. "If that's even your real name."

"One of many," Sigyn snickered.

Loki and Sigyn were lead up into the Quinjet and sat down beside each other, and tied down to their seats. Natasha soon resumed her own seat beside the other pilot while Stark and Rogers moved to stand behind her, holding onto some grips above their heads as the ramp closed and the Quinjet lifted up for takeoff.

While aircraft soared easily away from the plaza, and Stuttgart altogether, Loki and Sigyn remained silent to prying ears, though they continued their conversation with each other as they usually did in order to go unheard.

 _So, you plan on being locked up with me already?_ Loki inquired.

_If that's what needs to happen, yes._

_But it needn't happen._

_We can argue this until we're blue in the face._

_I hope that's not a pun._

Sigyn paused, thinking on what he meant. _I meant it not like that._

Loki looked down at the floor while Stark and Rogers busied themselves with whispering between each other. _Despite all of this, there are two things I cannot bear to happen._

_What?_

_I could not bear to see you hurt or to think of me as a monster._

_I will never see you as anything other than the man I love. Never doubt that, Loki. My love for you is what has kept me going for centuries._

_And your love for me gives me strength._

Thunder cracked through the stormy looking sky around them. Dark clouds, scattering with sudden bolts of lightning appeared, as the Quinjet crested well above the Swiss Alps. The escalation in turbulence began to shake the Quinjet and rattle the humans inside it while Loki and Sigyn seem unmoved.

 _Is that who I think it is?_ Sigyn wondered.

 _I do believe so_.

Looking upward, Loki was caught in the gesture by both Stark and Rogers.

"What's the matter?" Rogers questioned. "Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki looked over at him. "I'm not overly fond of what follows," he responded, glancing back upward.

Moments later, something heavy hit the top of the Quinjet, causing it to briefly jerk around. The lightning became more aggressive as Rogers and Stark both went to opposite sides of the Quinjet and began to prepare themselves. Stark picked up his helmet and put it back on, same as Rogers, who then turned back to find Stark pressing a few buttons and lowering the ramp. Gusts of wind quickly began to whip inside of the aircraft as Stark walked toward his exit.

"What are you doing?" Rogers called out.

Before Stark could leave, Thor appeared; landing on the ramp with Mjolnir in hand. He was crouched down in his landing position at first before standing up. Loki looked over with apprehension, as did Sigyn. Thor, on the other hand, seemed pissed off, and rightfully so, to be honest. There seemed to be no happy feelings in the burly blonde, upon seeing his fallen brother and estranged cousin.

Stark lifted his arm, prepared to blast Thor away, but Thor reacted faster and knocked Stark back with Mjolnir. Even Stark's helmet flew off his head in the process.

Grabbing Loki from his restraints and then by the neck, Loki acted as fast as he could and held his hand out to Sigyn, who reached up to take it. Without saying anything, Thor stepped away, twirled his hammer and flew off, which caused Sigyn to snap free of her own restraints as Loki maintained his grip on her hand.

The three of them took off through the clouds, but the extra weight quickened their descent to a mountain range below. When they were near enough, Sigyn released her grasp on Loki and let herself fall the rest of the way, rolling off into some shrubbery; the breath knocked out of her in the process. Loki landed not too far way, skidding across nearer a cliff, on his back, also with the wind knocked out of him. She could hear laughter escape his lips, however, so she knew him to be just fine.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor asked, stern and in no mood for lies.

"Oh, I missed you, too," Loki chuckled.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?"

Loki lifted his head. "Oh, you should thank me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth."

Sitting up, trying to stand, Loki was greeted by Thor, who dropped Mjolnir to the ground with a resonating thud and grabbing him up to his feet, gripping him at the back of the head.

"I thought you dead," Thor spoke.

"Did you mourn?"

"We all did. Our father—"

" _Your_ father," Loki cut him off. He swatted Thor's grip from him and stepped away. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" He continued walked away, a hand on his lower back as he laid his eyes on Sigyn who was standing several feet away and beginning to move to meet him halfway.

Thor began to follow. "We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?"

Loki turned around. "I remember a shadow; living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you _tossing_ me into an abyss. I _was_ and _should_ be king!" he growled.

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights."

Loki was not the only one to recoil at Thor's comment. Even Sigyn took offense. She remembered the shadow Loki referred to even long ago when she was a young girl on Asgard. That was the reason she knew Frigga had taken an interested in teaching Loki magic; so he had something of his own to help him stand out beside Thor.

Thor continued. "No, the Earth is under my protection, Loki."

Loki cackled in response, extending his arms out slightly. "And you're doing a _marvelous_ job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly threat," he said, mirroring comments about the world Sigyn had told him. "I mean to rule them. And why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?"

"Well, yes," Loki replied, as if it should be obvious.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. Throne would suit you ill."

Angered, Loki shoved Thor aside, though not enough. Thor was built like a mass of steel and stone and he didn't waver in his stance so easily. Above them, two black ravens cawed and flew off, and such a thing was not lost on Sigyn. The last time she had seen those annoying birds was the day she discovered her father's dead body like the terrible harbingers of misery she saw them to be; Odin's all-seeing pets who reported back to him like obedient lapdogs.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, _Odinson_ , in my exile!" Loki hissed. "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it..."

"Who showed you this power?" Thor demanded, pointing slightly at his brother. "Who controls the would-be-king?"

" _I am a king_!" shouted Loki, rage in his eyes and voice.

Sigyn approached, slowly, keeping to the side of the mountain and out of the brothers' way.

"Not here!" Thor shouted back, gripping Loki by the arms. "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" Calming down and moving a hand affectionately to the back of Loki's hair, he implored, "You come home." He glanced over his shoulder slightly, sensing Sigyn lurking in the background. "Both of you," he amended.

Sigyn stopped, her eyes softening from the tense gaze in which she had been walking the altercation between her husband and her cousin.

Loki smirked and chuckled lightly, looking briefly past Thor to Sigyn.

"He doesn't have it," she spoke finally.

Thor scowled and held his hand up; Mjolnir flying back to him.

"You need the cube to bring us home, but I've sent it off I know not where," Loki added to Sigyn's comment, smirking; knowing he has the current upper hand in their discussion.

Not to be toyed with, Thor pointed Mjolnir at Loki. "You listen well brother. I—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Iron Man came flying out of nowhere and knocked Thor off the mountain, tackling him mid-flight, leaving Loki to stand there staring at the spot his brother had just been standing.

"I'm listening," Loki quipped, without missing a beat.

Sigyn walked up to him and took his hands in hers. "Now would be the opportune moment to leave," she suggested.

"No," shook his head, turning to look down over the edge of the mountain to where Thor and Stark had fallen to below. He gave her hands a squeeze. "I need to stay with them, get a feel for this team and create dissention among them. It is the only way to keep them off Selvig's trail long enough to get the portal opened…"

"…For the Chitauri to come through," she finished his sentence. "Yes, I know." She followed his gaze over the edge of the cliff. "Or we could just kill them all."

Loki narrowed his eyes and looked back at Sigyn. "How far we've come since our last days on Asgard together boggles the mind sometimes." A part of him appeared sad as he spoke, raising a hand to the side of her face, while another part of him also seemed somewhat proud. "I am truly sorry this is where our lives have led us."

Sigyn shrugged. "We've made our bed."

"That we have." They both turned and looked down at the fight ensuing below among the trees. Loki sank down to watch with amusement and Sigyn joined him at his side. He licked his lips and then looked back at her. "You said you can teleport."

"Not always at will. It has usually only happened in times of duress or with extreme concentration," she answered. "I've never been able to properly control it."

Loki wrapped a hand around hers. "I need you to control it now," he insisted. "I need you to return to Barton and oversee the task at hand."

Sigyn smirked. "What you mean is that when the king is indisposed, the queen must rule in his stead."

"Something like that," he chuckled, just as Rogers dropped in on the fight below. "I will be fine."

"I will find Selvig and confirm he has not strayed from his task, and then I will find Barton and gather a team to release you." Sigyn leaned in and kissed Loki, eliciting a growl of desire from his lips. "I will not allow them to detain you too long."

Getting back up to her feet and standing upright, Sigyn balled her fists up at her sides and closed her eyes tight. She took in a few steadying breaths while Loki watched with interest before a greenish aura seemed to surround and then envelope her. The aura weakened and frustration was clearly present on Sigyn's face

"You can do this," he urged.

With a sense of renewed vigor, the aura returned, more vibrant this time and it was suddenly as if she were disintegrating. Before Loki knew it, she was disappeared and he was long on the mountain edge, turning back to the fight below, which seemed to be over. Stark, Rogers and Thor were standing in a circle, clearly back down from one another.

"A truce?" he spoke aloud to himself, almost in a mocking tone, as if commentating on the scene below. "How gallant."


	30. Love and War

* * *

 

All Sigyn had to do was zone in on Selvig. She had focused all her energy on him and found herself appeared in what looked to be an abandoned airplane hangar that was heavily guarded at all entrances by soldiers still under Loki's control. She assumed as long as the scepter was intact, so was the link Loki had created. The soldiers nearest Selvig to assure the safety of him and the Tesseract, turned abruptly when they realized the new presence.

Sigyn threw her hands up in defense, and was about to say something when Clint approached from behind where she stood.

"At ease, boys."

She turned around to face the archer and took in how worse for wear he was looking. Loki's hold over him was taking its told, the same it had been doing to Selvig for the last year. His skin looked pallid and the circles around his eyes were more of a flushed color than dark, as if body was combating an illness and not succeeding too well.

Sigyn lowered her hands as she finished sizing Clint up. "Did you get what you needed from the museum vault?" she asked.

Clint nodded. "We waited for you, ma'am, but you never joined us. We couldn't wait any longer and had to leave. I apologize. I take full responsibility for the decision to leave you behind." He stood at attention, prepared to receive some form of punishment.

Sigyn stepped closer to him and touched her fingertips gently against his temple. "It is quite alright, Barton. You did what was expected of you."

"Did something happen to Loki, ma'am? You're here alone."

"My husband's been detained. Quite literally," she replied. "I was, too, but there was able to get away. I am here on my husband's request to make sure Selvig is keeping on schedule."

"Everything is locked and loaded, in a manner of speaking."

Sigyn looked around at the hangar. There were two Quinjets at their beck and call, and a smile spread to her lips.

"We were just waiting on orders on where he needs us to go next. He didn't give us a destination for where all this ends up," Clint continued, gesturing toward the equipment being loaded into one of the two Quinjets.

"Leave that to me," she remarked, keeping a keen eye on Selvig and the CMS device he was working on. She then gestured to the second Quinjet not being occupied. "Are these both fueled up?"

"They are."

"Good," she walked off toward a few of the soldiers and Clint followed obediently behind her. "Get both of them ready to leave. We'll be taking this one to get Loki back with."

"Fury will have him locked up on a hellicarrier, probably somewhere over water in the event something happens; to decrease civilian casualties."

"And that's why he's Director, isn't it?" Sigyn quipped. "Thinking diplomatically and outside of the box at the same time." Clint just stood and watched her, waiting. "Yes, gather enough men you think it will take to get my husband back and subsequently destroy a hellicarrier."

Clint smirked. "I can do that with perfectly aimed arrow."

"Make sure to bring your bow, then."

Clint nodded and moved to gather some of the soldiers, shouting out orders at them while Sigyn walked in the opposite direction to the soldiers around Selvig.

"Hey," he greeted with a smile. "This iridium will definitely do just the trick."

"Good to hear," she replied. "And you can get it all to work?"

"Yes, but, where are we taking it?"

Sigyn narrowed her eyes and considered the options. When the idea hit her, she grinned. "When was the last time you saw the Big Apple, Dr. Selvig?"

 

* * *

 

"…So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for," Dr. Bruce Banner was saying in the Hellicarrier's Briefing Room. He looked around at the others present: Thor, Rogers, Hill and Natasha.

Thor looked at Banner. "Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours," Natasha commented. Her arms were folded on the table she was leaning on, looking at the video feed of Loki in his holding cell. "Well, possibly two of ours. Astrid Thorne was with him. She's a fellow agent. Or _was_. I don't know anymore."

Thor seemed confused. "Astrid Thorne? I do not know this name."

Before Natasha could respond, Steve spoke up from where he was seated across the table from her. "I wanna know why Loki let us take him." He looked around at the others. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Banner remarked, wiping his glasses. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats; you could smell crazy on him."

Thor eyed Banner. "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha spoke, deadpan, barely looking up from the table.

"He's adopted."

The discussion continued, as Stark walked in with Coulson and began to explain what Loki's plans for the iridium that was stolen from Stuttgart. He began to show off his flare and extensive knowledge when Fury appeared and joined the conversation, with Rogers wondering how Loki's scepter worked.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn three of the sharpest people I know into his personal flying monkeys," Fury commented.

Thor looked confused again. "Monkeys? I do not understand."

Rogers smirked and held up a hand; finally feeling in the loop about something. "I do! I understood that reference."

Stark rolled his eyes, while Rogers looked proud with himself. "Shall we play, doctor?" Stark asked Banner. "Let's play some."

As Banner and Tony walk out, the rest disbanded, more or less as well. Fury checked in Hill about whatever, Rogers went off alone. Meanwhile, Natasha hung back to approach Thor about what she meant to continue speaking with him about earlier before Rogers interrupted her thought process.

"You know Astrid, don't you?" It was both a statement and a question. She stood, feet slightly apart, with her arms folded as she looked up at the Asgardian who seemed a bit forlorn.

Thor glanced back at her. "I still do not know the name."

"She was with Loki. She's been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent for the last three years, give or take a couple of months. She was brought in as an agent when she saved this teenage boy from being hit and killed by a truck. She received the full force and walked away without a scratch while the truck was totaled. How she happens to be so strung and near indestructible has been a mystery to us all. Her history is a bit shady as well. Some things don't line up or make sense, but Fury kept her on. She was a useful member of S.H.I.E.L.D until a few days ago when Loki arrived." Natasha watched Thor as he listened to her speak, staring off at nothing in particular. "She also happens to hold a PhD in astrophysics like Selvig, and was placed on the team alongside him to help see how the Tesseract worked. She was present when Loki arrived. She took off with him, Barton and Selvig. Fury keeps saying Loki compromised 'three of the sharpest people' he knows but I don't think Astrid was compromised. I think she knew something was gonna go down. I think she knew Loki beforehand and left willingly with him."

"You say Astrid is the name of the one was with Loki," he reiterated. "This is the same woman detained with him on your aircraft earlier this night?"

Natasha nodded. "One in the same."

Thor shook his head and smirked a little. "Her name is not Astrid and she has known Loki a very long time."

"I've gathered that."

"I know her as well," Thor continued. He looked directly at Natasha. "She is my blood; we are cousins. Her true name is Sigyn. My father and her father were brothers."

"So, Ast—Sigyn is Asgardian, too."

"Indeed she is."

"Great," Natasha frowned. "Well, it makes a little more sense now. But, why is she here?"

"She's been here for over eight hundred years."

Natasha seemed impressed and unfazed at the same time. "That…is a long time."

"Her father was banished here much further back than that, for treason; he tried to usurp the throne of Asgard from my father, who declared any who came here and sought him out would be considered a traitor as well. Sigyn didn't believe it was fair, as it was her father and she had been but a child when they were separated. She eventually went against my father—"

"—Odin—"

"—and came here to find her father. She only wanted to seek him out and see he was well with her own eyes and for him to know that she was also well. I could understand that and I felt much sympathy for her plight. My father is, however, sometimes a very stubborn man and after she was gone, informed Loki and I that she was banished, never to return to Asgard."

"Loki and Sigyn were—are close?"

"I should think so," he replied. "They were married in secret just before she came to earth. Loki has stayed true to her all these years, despite what your world's myths and stories say."

"Sigyn is Loki's wife."

"Yes, and fiercely loyal, I believe," he added. "Her father died about two hundred years ago, as I was informed by mine. She has been alone since then, though, since you say she has been this Astrid person for some time, she has probably infiltrated your society as different people time and again."

Natasha nodded, remembering something. "I did hear Steve asking her if they'd met before, but anything like that would've happened seventy years ago." More realization hit. "She claimed she had a grandmother named Millie Thorne who used for the SSR; a precursor to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Thor just nodded. "It was probably her then, too."

"Living that long, alone, she probably made friends over time, and lost them. There's no way you go centuries without getting close to anyone, and she would've lost all those people. Constant loss like that, constant loneliness…we might be dealing with someone just as equally unstable as your brother."

"It saddens me, but I must agree. She never would've turned out this way had she been allowed to return to Asgard after finding her father. If mine had simply forgiven her transgression, I think a lot of things might have been different."

"Like maybe Loki wouldn't have come to earth to claim it for his own?"

"Yes," Thor replied. He seemed to carry that burden on his shoulders as if he was at fault.

Natasha seemed to notice and placed a hand to his bare, muscled arm. "Don't blame yourself over it, big guy. Loki and Sigyn are adults and made their choices. We'll stop them."

Without saying anything else, Natasha took her leave from Thor and exited the Briefing Room. He folded his arms across his chest and brought a hand to his chin, scratching at it while deep in thought. His mind was reeling with so many things as he thought back to his last time here on earth, and how Sigyn may have been present when Loki appeared. Maybe they had been in cahoots since then, or maybe some time further. It was known to him that Loki had found new ways out of Asgard without need for the Bifrost. Maybe he had been visiting her for years or decades. Or maybe not. He was sure Heimdall would've said something sooner if that was the case.

His thoughts then traveled to that of Jane Foster and he smiled ruefully.

Glancing over at Coulson, who stood not a few feet away at a computer screen, Thor called out to him. "Son of Coul, can you tell me the whereabouts of Jane Foster?"

 

* * *

 

Hours later, once day had broken where the hellicarrier was floating, the so-called Avengers were assembled in Banner's lab, arguing with each other and over each other about big things and petty things alike, completely oblivious to what was going on outside the realm of the hellicarrier or the blue "gem" of Loki's scepter starting to glow.

Outside, a Quinjet approached, hovering above.

"661 Bravo, please relay your pass code. What is your hull, over?" called a S.H.I.E.L.D. Base voice.

On the Quinjet, Clint spoke, "Arms to ammunition, over."

Sigyn was standing near the closed ramp, looking over her shoulder at Clint and the other operatives who were suiting up and arming themselves. Clint, specifically, was pulling out his hi-tech bow and arrows.

"Ready to show off those amazing archery skills you're so famous for, Agent Barton?" she asked him, pressing the button to open the ramp.

Clint took position beside her and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Pulling out a grenade tipped arrowed, he aimed it toward the engine, and then paused. He took other factors in, like the strength of the wind gusting around outside and moved his aim, pointing it about one hundred feet away from the engine. Then, upon release, the arrow soared gracefully at first before sharply curving and puncturing the engine. Red lights blinking on the arrow signaled it had begun to immediately count down.

After a few moments, Clint pulled a trigger on his bow, causing the arrow to explode the engine. Practically everyone inside the Hellicarrier was thrown about as pandemonium quickly erupted. Emergency alarms were set off, fire extinguishers activated near surrounding fires and every agent was in a spinning scramble for their positions and armaments. Agent Hill was doing her best to keep the bridge as calm as possible.

As for the others in Banner's lab, they were thrown about the room while Natasha and Banner crashed through the floor, down to a lower equipment room below.

On the hellicarrier's topside, the Quinjet had landed and Clint began to walk down the ramp beside Sigyn while they silently hurried along to a hatch he pointed at. One of the Ops, gun pointed, kicked the hatch open. The Ops then began to lower themselves in by cord, with Sigyn following next, followed by Clint last, who then began to bark out orders and point in the directions he want them each to go in.

"Keep that engine down! Detention! Wait for cameras to go dark!"

"Yes, sir," nodded one Op.

"You got it," a second Op agreed.

Clint turned to those remaining Ops, "Stay close."

Sigyn gestured for one of the Ops to follow her. Before walking off, knowing she probably might not see Clint again after all was said and done, she smirked at him. "Keep up the good work, Barton."

He simply nodded respectfully at her. "Ma'am."

Stalking off in an opposite direction, Sigyn and "her" Op took off and made their way toward a corridor where two agents were approaching. Her Op shot one in the chest several times while Sigyn grabbed the other and snapped his neck. Both bodies had barely hit the floor as she continued on.

Her first goal was to get Loki's scepter back. She knew that it was taken from him following the events in Stuttgart. She quickly tracked it down to a nearby lab that had a large, gaping hole. Carefully she maneuvered around the hole, looking down to hear the sound of a terrifying growl resonating back up.

"Sounds like the beast has awoken," she commented at the Op, standing guard for her.

Sigyn had previously been on a hellicarrier, though not necessarily the same one. But that didn't matter. They all had the same layout so she knew her way around just as fine and was able to reach the Detention Section in great time.

Loki looked up at her as she approached with the Op in tow and he smiled.

"My lady in shining armor," he jested, standing up and moving toward the glass door. As she moved to aim the scepter at the glass he shook his head and tutted at her. "No, don't. Any damage to this and I'll plummet out of this aircraft in this thing and quite possibly die."

Sigyn looked at the control panel near her. "You don't by any chance know the code to unlocking the door, do you?"

"I watched Fury very carefully," he replied, grinning from ear to ear.

 

* * *

 

All hell was still breaking loose all over the hellicarrier. Banner had hulked out and begun to crash through basically everything as he chased after Natasha. Fury and Hill were trying to manage on the Bridge as the hellicarrier began to fall from the sky as another engine was taken out. Stark and Rogers had headed outside to see what they could do to fix those engines and keep the hellicarrier in the air, while Rogers was simultaneously trying to fight off a few of the Ops that had arrived with Clint and Sigyn. Then Thor had come to Natasha's aid and begun to fight, as well as reason, with the Hulk. Natasha wound up cowering for a while, trying to regain her composure after the altercation with the Hulk and then gone off after Clint who she proceeded to fight with and soon knock unconscious with a few hits to the head.

The Hulk had been gone missing from the hellicarrier when Thor then remembered Loki in all that was going on.

When he reached the Detention Center and headed inside, he was just in time to witness the doors to the cell opening up and Loki standing there about to exit.

" _NO!_ " Thor bellowed, as he darted forward to tackle Loki, only to be tricked by the fact that it was merely one of Loki's duplicates.

Thor fell flat on his stomach inside of the cell as the doors closed behind him, caging him in. He turned around and got to his feet to see Loki outside the cell as the Op moved over to the side. Sigyn was, at the moment, nowhere to be found.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?

Thor, snarling angrily, smashed the glass of the cell with Mjolnir, creating a serious crack in the glass as Loki's "ooooh-ed" and chuckled when the cell shook; the clutches, or whatever was holding the cell in place, giving way slightly.

"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Loki commented, moving over to the control panel, barely touching it.

From off to the side, Coulson appeared and knocked Op out with big gun in his hands. "Move away, please." As Loki complied, hands slightly raised, Thor could only watch. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even _I_ don't know what it does," Coulson continued as he turned on the gun. "Wanna find out?"

Before he could shoot, Loki's appearance distorted and changed, revealing it to be Sigyn instead standing at the controls, just in time for the real Loki to appear behind Coulson and stab him through and through with the blade of his scepter.

" _Unnngghh!_ " Coulson groaned in pain.

Thor banged the glass with his fist. " _NO!_ "

Loki withdrew the scepter and Coulson dropped to the ground, slumping against the wall, and then joined his wife by the control panel.

"Ready to head out, my love?" Placing a kiss upon her lips.

Sigyn smiled and nodded after they parted. "Yes, my love." Her eyes wandered over to the dying Coulson floor and felt pity for him, but she didn't let it bother any. He was just another means to an end now.

At the control panel, Loki looked over at Thor and gestured to the bloodied scepter in his hands, as if saying, "Oops, see what you made me do?" He flipped open a clear case and pressed a button off to the side. The floor beneath the glass cell opened and the air began to whirl around throughout the Detention Center. Thor took a few steps back into the center of the cell; looking down then first and then at Loki, Mjolnir in hand. Briefly, Thor looked past his brother to Sigyn, pleading to her with his eyes that maybe she could sway Loki to not do what he was about to do, but she offered no such solace. Instead, she just stood there silently as Loki stared back at Thor and then pressed the big red button, which Sigyn found to be quite cliché. Instantly, the cell fell instantly out of the hellicarrier.

After a moment, Loki released the button and began to walk away with Sigyn beside him as Coulson spoke weakly, sitting where he was looking rather like a discarded rag doll.

"You're going to lose."

Loki turned around. "Why?"

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky," Loki remarked.

"Exactly," Sigyn chimed in. "Where is our disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

Loki snarled slightly. "I don't think I—"

Before he could finish, he was cut off by Coulson pulling the trigger on the big gun. Her eyes having been lingering to Coulson's trigger finger, Sigyn sensed what was about to happen. Throwing herself in front of Loki, facing him, she took the brunt of the blast at it hit her lower back, sending them both through the metal wall.

"So that's what it does," Coulson muttered. Even speaking was becoming a chore from him in his deteriorating state.

On the other side of the blasted wall, Loki and Sigyn had rolled and groaned at the minor amount of pain.

"Why would you do a stupid thing like that?" Loki questioned, sitting up and checking to make sure she was okay.

"What stupid thing?"

"Jump in the way of that blast."

"You would do the same for me."

"Yes, I would have, but everything I am doing is meant to also keep you safe. I cannot do that if you place yourself willingly in harm's way." Loki stood up and pulled her to her feet with him.

"What are ladies in shining armor for?" she teased, as he placed a hand to her lower back.

He noted that particular part of her dress was singed and some of skin was exposed and clearly slightly burned from the blast as well. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," Sigyn insisted, leading the way

Without wasting another moment, they swiftly made their way away from the Detention Center and eventually topside to the Quinjet that Sigyn had arrived on with Barton and the Ops. Only a few Ops were left remaining, waiting for them to board.

"Do we wait for Agent Barton, ma'am?" the pilot called back to Sigyn, not noticing Loki entering up the ramp behind her.

"No," she replied. "Head out and rendezvous with final destination." Taking a seat across from Loki once they were completely boarded, she looked at him as the ramp closed and as he smiled at her. "Was it absolutely necessary to kill Agent Coulson?"

"Sorry, dear," he apologized, though clearly not sorry about it. "All's fair in love and war."

Sigyn shook her head at him but smiled nonetheless. "You'll be the death of me yet."

"Don't speak of such things." He went serious; his mind wandering to the threat The Other had placed in his mind. He closed his eyes tightly to will away the images from his thoughts. However, picturing Sigyn being torn violently torn apart and eviscerated certainly kept him alert and mindful of the endgame at all times.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he heard her ask.

"I have no idea what that means."

"It's a human saying I picked up," she explained as the Quinjet flew off away from the destruction they'd left behind on the hellicarrier. "I'm just wondering what's on your mind. You look unnerved."

"It's nothing. We've just got a lot on our plate and I'm considering our next moves," he responded evasively. "Where did you send Selvig to?"

"New York."

"Where in this New York?"

"You've met Tony Stark, Iron Man."

"Obviously."

"He has this very tall building there that runs off the grid on its own energy source…" she trailed with a mischievous smile that matched his own.

Loki caught on to what she was saying and grinned proudly at her. "What would I ever do without you?"

Sigyn simply continued to smile in response.


	31. Gods and Monsters

* * *

 

"This is a rather remarkable view," Loki commented, looking out of the floor to ceiling windows from the living room of Stark's penthouse apartment atop Stark Tower in Manhattan.

"Perhaps we can claim this as our home when we win," Sigyn suggested.

She was lounging on the sofa in the sunken seating area a few feet away, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. Loki remained standing, constantly looking out the windows, impatiently waiting for something while he rolled the scepter around in his hands. Casting a glance down toward the floor, he looked back at Sigyn and smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, about that…" He held her eye and stepped closer to her. "I don't expect to actually win."

"Why not? You have that scepter, an entire Chitauri army waiting to do your bidding and we both have magic." Sigyn sat up straight. "What chance do the others stand?"

Loki licked his bottom lip. "If, by some stroke of luck, we win this world and govern it as king and queen, then that is well and good. However, do you recall when I said I had an ulterior motive and would tell you in time the details?"

Sigyn nodded warily. "Yes."

"This isn't the endgame for me," he smirked mischievously, throwing his arms out at his sides. "This is not the kingdom I mean to rule. This world would be merely a consolation prize."

"Careful how you speak, husband. Heimdall is watching." The way she spoke to him, Sigyn was clearly feeling a bit incensed.

"Oh, don't worry. I've cloaked us until the Man of Iron arrives."

Sigyn stood up and stepped out of the sunken area. "You told me we would rule this world." She wasn't about to let his failure to include her in his true plans be so easily forgiven or forgotten. "As much as I hate this world, it has been my home longer than Asgard ever was. I have grown accustomed to the idea of being its queen alongside you as its king." Her shoulders fell as she knitted her brow and approached Loki. "Our son is buried here."

Loki frowned and let a sigh escape her teeth. "And he has been nothing but bones for more than half a millennia."

Her hand striking his face was sudden but not unexpected. The moment that comment slipped from his lips he knew he had said the wrong thing.

"That doesn't make it any easier."

"I am sorry, Sigyn. I truly am for sounding so heartless in regard to Narfi. I just cannot grieve him the same as you. I never knew him. I didn't know he existed until a year ago when you told me. I've had so much on my plate since then, that mourning a son who was never in my life just hasn't been a top priority, and I am sorry for that. Even if I had known about him when he was born or at any point while he was alive, I wouldn't have been able to come here to be with the two of you. Heimdall would not have opened the Bifrost for me, on Odin's orders, and I didn't know of the other ways off Asgard then. There is nothing I could've done and still I am sorry. But I plan on making it up to you. I plan on being a king and making you my queen and if it does end up being on this world, then so be it. However, if it ends up being where I mean it to, that would be better. And then, we shall restart our family, this time together."

Tears had been beginning to brim Sigyn's eyes but she wiped them away before they ever had a chance to fall. She looked Loki hard in the eye and considered what he had to say and she felt guilty for blaming him about being so callous. It wasn't his fault he never had Narfi in his life and was therefore not bothered as much as Sigyn would be to leave behind their son's grave which would still be at the base of the Italian Alps. He couldn't miss what he never actually had.

"Sorry I slapped you."

"I deserved it," Loki assured. He took the hand she had used and held tightly onto it and placed it over his heart. "Tell me what I can do to honor Narfi and I will do it. Tell me what I can say to make it better and I will say it."

Sigyn knew it had been long enough and she had to move past the grief once and for all. It was holding her back from truly moving on with Loki. If this wasn't the world they were meant to remain on, she had to let their firstborn go.

"Our son's life ended just over seven hundred years ago, his body is gone and his soul, I am positive, belongs in the afterlife or awaits us in Valhalla. What happened to him will pain me, probably forever, as much as I try to ignore it, and I am indirectly mad at you for not sharing that pain as much as I do. However, what is more important right now is being at your side and moving forward with my life because I know that is what our son would want, and whatever it is you have meant for us, I will accept wholeheartedly."

Loki encircled his arms around her and pulled her tightly up against him, burying his face into the crook of her neck. "I love you terribly, Sigyn," he whispered. "I have never meant to fail you in any way and I will always protect you at all costs. I just need you to trust me right now."

"I never said I didn't," she replied, laying her face against his chest and closing her eyes. "Just do everything you can to win this world for us. It can be one way to honor Narfi," she suggested. "Claim it from the humans, since it was a human that killed him. They took from us, so we shall take from them."

Loki pulled back and stared at Sigyn, letting a smile reappear on his lips. "There's my girl."

She could feel a ripple in the air and she looked around at the room. "What was that?"

"I removed the cloak," he replied. Lifting up the scepter, he gestured to it. "Also, I need to tell you something important about this thing before Stark gets here…"

 

* * *

 

A short time later, Iron Man arrived at Stark Tower where Selvig had activated the CMS device holding the Tesseract. Loki and Sigyn were made aware of the arrival when they heard the blast from several floors up, upon the topmost roof where Selvig and the device were set up.

Loki turned with a smirk at Sigyn and gripped the scepter firmly in his hands. "It's time."

She simply nodded as he stepped outside onto the balcony, looking upward with a rather contemplative smile as Stark navigated down toward the Gauntlet which removed his Iron Man suit from his body as he walked. Both men watched each other carefully as they headed inside of the penthouse. Sigyn stood off to the shadows of the room, out of Stark's line of sight as he entered in.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki quipped.

"Uh, actually, I'm planning to threaten you," Stark replied matter-of-factly, his hands clasped behind his back.

Loki smirked slightly. "You should've left your armor on for that."

"Yeah." Stark seemed nonchalant as he made his way toward his bar, finally noticing Sigyn but not acknowledging her presence right away. "It's seen a bit of mileage and you got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink? Either of you?"

"Stalling me won't change anything," Sigyn informed, stepping further into the room, nearer to Loki.

Meanwhile, Loki couldn't help himself but feel rather amused by their interaction with the human, as he continued to smile.

"No, no, no. _Threatening_." Stark gestured to the bar again. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

Loki turned toward the windows and looked out, expectantly. It was only a matter of time now before Selvig successfully opened the portal. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that." He turned around. "What have we to fear?"

"The Avengers." Off Loki's confused look, Stark clarified. "It's what we call ourselves; sorta like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes type thing."

Loki smirked. "Yes, we've met them."

"Yeah…it takes us a while to get any traction; I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here: your brother, the demi-god;" he spoke and put on a pair of honing bracelets as Loki grimaced, "the super soldier, the living legend who kinda lives up to the legend; a man with _breathtaking_ anger management issues;" he continued, causing Loki to smirk, "a couple of master assassins; and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

Winking and smiling at the same time, Loki replied, "That was the plan."

"Not a great plan." Stark began to walk down toward the couple. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army," Loki remarked.

"We have a Hulk," parried Stark.

Sigyn snickered. "Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off."

"You're missing the point. There's no throne. There's no version of this where you come out on top. _Maybe_ your army comes and _maybe_ it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." Any jesting that had been in Stark's voice had faded away to noticeable hints of anger as he took a sip of his drink.

Loki, too, was done with any lighthearted bantering, and began stalked forward. "How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?"

Stark became noticeably nervous for a moment as Loki brought the scepter to his chest to force control over him, but nothing happened, so Loki tried it a second time, to no avail. Each time was met with the clinking of the arc reactor in Stark's chest.

Loki, dumbfounded, commented, "This usually works."

"Well, performance issues. Not uncommon. One out of five—" Stark was cut off by Loki grabbing him by the neck and tossing him to the ground like a rag doll. "Jarvis, anytime now," he called out as he clamored to his feet.

Grabbing Stark by the neck again, Loki stared him in the face, practically growling. "You will _all_ fall before me."

"Deploy!"

Lifting him up a bit further, Loki tossed Stark through the glass window to fall from the skyscraper, many stories down, just as a jet pack of Mark VII Iron Man suit shot out of an elevator. It blasted Loki right in the head, knocking him down momentarily. Sigyn was at his side, helping him to his feet, when Stark, completely clad as Iron Man once again, was suddenly seen hovering outside the broken window.

"And there's one other person you pissed off," Stark said. "His name was Phil."

Loki raised the scepter to blast Stark, but Stark blasted him first. Sigyn was noticeably faster than either men and sensed what was about to go down as she shoved Loki out of the way and took the full brunt of the blast from Stark, which sent her flying back while Loki merely stumbled backward over his own footing in surprise. In the midst of the altercation, Loki dropped the scepter and then scrambled over to Sigyn; her well-being becoming his main priority.

" _Uhhhhh_!" she groaned in pain.

At that moment, Selvig was looking up at the sky as the Tesseract's energy beamed into the sky. The beam then formed a vortex which then opens up another portal.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Loki demanded, pulling Sigyn's face toward her as he helped her to her feet.

"Because I love you, and you would do the same for me," she replied with staggered breath before knitting her brow and making a face at him. "Didn't we go over this already?"

A hole in space ripped open and from it the Chitauri army began to spill out in flying chariots, carrying energy rifles attached to their arms.

"Right. Army." Stark took off into the sky to try and do something, like blast and attack, which left Loki and Sigyn alone for the time being to recoup.

"You sure you're alright?" Loki ensured.

Sigyn stepped over to the shattered window, her boots crunching down upon the broken glass on the floor. "I'm fine, fine." She looked up at the sky above that was filling up with Chitauri and blasts from their weapons as well as from Stark's attempts to fight them. "The battle has begun, my dear." She turned back at Loki. "No going back now."

He took a steadying breath. The full weight of what he was doing pressing down on his shoulders was obvious to her and she turned to face him. His eyes followed the movement of the creatures flying around with a mix of excitement, anxiety, fear and pride swirling around his green eyes.

"Go to Selvig, on the roof. He needs to know…" he told her.

"To know what?"

"About what I told you earlier, about the safety, just in case," he reiterated. "He's our only option to stop all of this if we need to."

Sigyn nodded obediently, and turned to head toward the elevator as Loki moved back outside the way Stark had initially entered. She stopped, however, just as the elevator opened and turned around to watch him standing on the landing pad where the Gauntlet would appear, his full armor appearing. She couldn't help herself but turn away completely from the elevator and head back to the windows to watch her husband as he stared out at the chaos exploding, literally and figuratively, all over the city. The Chitauri were fully unleased. New Yorkers filled the streets, staring at the fire fight in the distance, at the same time the Chitauri unleashed blasts as they went; blowing up cars and setting storefronts aflame. An explosion ripped out the windows of the top corner of buildings, with flame and stone raining down. A domino-effect of explosions rippled across the bridge over Park Avenue, in front of the Grand Central Terminal.

During all of this, Loki seemed rather pleased with himself as he held his arms out slightly at his sides, taking it all in, and Sigyn was quite entranced with how beautiful he looked standing there, already looking as a king on a throne to her. She would've turned back toward the elevator again at that moment, but then Thor showed up; practically falling from the sky and landing onto the balcony.

"Loki!" Thor thundered, no pun intended. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!"

"You can't. There is no stopping it." Loki sneered and pointed the scepter Thor. "There is only _the_ _war_!"

"So be it."

With a roar, Loki leapt off the Gauntlet landing and made the first move to attack Thor. They and their weapons collided, and then each deflecting possible strikes. Loki spun himself and whipped the scepter around behind him, blasting energy out, but Thor deflected it with Mjolnir. The two battled — Loki unleashing another pent-up rage and jealousy and Thor having no choice but to defend himself. The 'R' and 'K' on the Stark name on the side of the building were blasted and fell; the 'K' landing on top of the roof of a smaller building below as the brothers continued their fight with each other. All the while, Sigyn remained in the frame of the shattered, open window in the penthouse, watching her husband and cousin with careful eyes, wishing nothing bad happened to Loki, but also wishing very little harm to Thor as well.

Thor was against them, but he had always been kind to her and was still her blood, after all.

He swung Mjolnir at Loki, who easily ducked and grabbed Thor by the back of the neck, smashing his head into the glass bannister on the edge of the balcony. At the same moment, a Quinjet appeared with Natasha, Clint and Rogers inside with a machine gun aimed. They opened fire on Loki when Thor rolled out of the way, but Loki reacted with a blast from the scepter which took out one of the Quinjet's engines. It burst into flames and debris flew everywhere as the entire aircraft began to spiral down to the street below.

Thor, back to his feet, growled at Loki and tackled him down hard. The pair began to punch each other in the face and chest and arms and anywhere they could bring pain. Sigyn was going nuts not doing anything but it was one of the few things Loki had asked of her in advance; to stay out of the battle as much as she could because he didn't want her to wind up hurt or worse; killed. However, Sigyn was stubborn and not one to listen to well at times when she felt strongly about something. And in that moment, she felt strongly about assisting Loki somehow.

Backing away from the window, she walked out of the balcony, prepared to throw a blast of energy from her hands at Thor or possibly attempt to teleport to Loki, grab him and possibly teleport them out of there to a safer location. She was momentarily distracted though by the gigantic, Chitauri Leviathan flying out of the portal, carrying hundreds of soldiers with it.

Sigyn was suddenly quite conflicted about how she felt. How could their opposition stand against that kind of back-up? But, also, how many innocent lives would perish? No doubt the Chitauri didn't care if their victims were armed or not; whether they were man, woman or child. A pang of distress ached in her heart but she willed herself to ignore it as best as she could while she watched Chitauri soldiers scaling down the sides of buildings and the numerous explosions appearing all over at random.

Thor, at this point, got a hold on Loki and forced him to watch the city falling to ash.

"Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?"

Loki tried to look away. "It's too late. It's too late to stop it."

"No. We can. Together."

Loki looked at his brother, showing a sign of hope.

Then, without warning, Loki stabbed Thor with a small knife.

As Thor dropped to his knees and keeled over, Loki smirked through tears in his eyes. "Sentiment."

Just as he looked briefly over at Sigyn who shared his conflicted expression, Thor got up, kicked Loki and lifted him into the air. Thor then slammed him down, hard. Loki, bleeding, rolled over the edge. For a moment, Sigyn's heart jumped into her throat, and Thor looked down, only for Loki to be found riding off on a flying chariot, with dozens of Chitauri following his lead.

Relief filled every fiber of Sigyn's being as she stood there. Thor pulled the small knife from his side and tossed it to the ground before turning around to eye up Sigyn with anger in his blue eyes.

"How can you go along with this madness of his? How can you stand by him after something like this?" he demanded of her. "This has been your home and you let him destroy it?"

Sigyn narrowed her eyes at Thor, stepping forward. "Loki is my husband and he is where my loyalties will always lie, first and foremost. This world has taken much from me," she answered. "We're just returning the favor."

"Then you are as mad as he."

"It's debatable."

"Please, cousin," he beseeched. "Loki might not stop this, but is there not something you can do? If you are as loyal to him, then he might listen to you. None of this will end well for either of you if you let it continue."

Sigyn paused, as if considering and Thor took that as a sign of hope. She walked up to him and placed her hands on his biceps. "You've always tried seeing the good in everyone, haven't you? Always looking for that light in the dark." They looked each other in the eye, trying to read the other's face for what they were thinking. She smiled sadly, and then leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Sometimes there is no light. Sometimes all that is left is darkness."

"It doesn't have to be like this," he reiterated.

"It's been like this a very long time, Thor," she remarked, giving him rough pat to the cheek. "There's no going back to the way things were."

"Sigyn…"

"Best you be off and fight the good fight and make your daddy proud." Sigyn stepped back away from him. "I have to see a man about a safety issue."

Giving him wink, Sigyn closed her eyes and disappeared, teleporting away from the balcony, leaving Thor alone, while he looked out at the falling city with anger and dejection.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn was starting to get a better handle on the whole teleporting business. Perhaps it was just easier in stressful situations. When she reappeared, she was on the roof of the building, beside Selvig who was clearly frightened by what was going on around him and completely confused by it all.

Crouching down, Sigyn reached a hand out toward him and he practically jumped out of his skin.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Wh-what happened?"

"My guess is you hit your head." She noted a lump forming at his temple.

"What's happening, what's going on?"

"You never had a choice in the matter and I apologize on behalf of my husband, but your compliance was a means to an end. No hard feelings," she smirked. "That's not why I am here, though."

"Are you going to kill me?"

Sigyn frowned. "Did you not hear me when I said I wasn't going to hurt you?" She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm trying to say that when Loki was manipulating you, he planted knowledge in your mind on how to turn this off, using his scepter. You were his fail-safe."

Selvig rolled onto his knees and looked around the roof. "I don't have his scepter. Do you?"

"No." She smirked. "Did you think it would be easy?"

Standing back up, Sigyn looked out at the city and teleported off the roof.

"Well, that was rude," Selvig muttered, turning to stare up at the energy beam and the portal high above him.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn reappeared at the base of Stark Tower, amongst the rubble and chaos. Chitauri flew past, flustering gusts of winds that licked at her hair as she noticed a few on the ground advancing toward an overturned car with people trapped inside. Whether or not there were children in there, Sigyn couldn't bring herself to let those people get killed, so she shot a blast of energy from his hands at one of the Chitauri as she advanced on it. Caught off guard by the attack, it turned and looked at her for a moment, ready to aim its energy rifle at her.

"Don't you dare, aim that at me," Sigyn spat. "I am Sigyn, wife of Loki, your commander, and you will stand down."

It took a minute to register what she was saying and then lowered its weapon long enough for Sigyn to grab it away and aim it right back. She blasted the Chitauri through the skull and then dropped the other two that were nearby before she ran up to the car. Setting the energy rifle down, she gripped the accordioned door and tore it off with her bare hands before pulling the people out, carefully, one by one.

"Thank you," the man who had been in the driver's seat cried.

"Take your family and run. Find safety. Go underground if you can."

He nodded and obeyed. They ran or limped away, depending on the degree of whatever injuries they attained when their car flipped over. Sigyn looked up at Stark Tower, watched as a random blast took out the 'S' in the Stark name. Knowing Loki would return to her there, she decided to go back to the penthouse and wait for him.

She teleported herself back up there and was glad when she didn't have to wait long. She saw Loki zooming past on a chariot and watched as he caught one of Clint's arrows in his hand as if it were nothing. But Sigyn knew the kind of arrows Clint used and there was not enough time for her to telepathically shout to Loki's mind to drop it. Within seconds of catching the arrow, it exploded; knocking him off the chariot. Loki fell to the balcony below, smashing into a section of the glass barricade; causing it to shatter around him as he rolled and came to a stop. Getting up on one knee, now helmetless, his tossed his cape back and glared in Clint's direction, probably wishing he would've scrambled the archer's brain when he had the chance.

Sigyn was standing in front of the windows once more as she watched Loki stand up, just as the Hulk leapt from out of nowhere and barreled right at Loki with a terrifying roar. The Hulk kicked Loki through the window beside Sigyn, raining glass down around her as Loki collapses upon hitting the wall. The Hulk then jumped inside, ready to attack when Loki rolled himself up in a flurry of broken glass, standing up to The Hulk.

" _ENOUGH_!" he shouted, seething with rage, as the Hulk momentarily stopped in his tracks. "You are all of you beneath me!" He gestured between Sigyn and himself. "We are _Gods_ , you dull creature and we will not be bullied by— _ahhh_ —"

The Hulk grabbed Loki by the legs and began to smash him against the floor repeatedly like a sack of rocks before finally throwing him aside to the ground. Loki was left in an indent of his body in the floor, wide-eyed and wheezing in pain. Just as the Hulk began to walk away, Sigyn cried out.

"Loki!" she shouted, rushing toward her husband and preparing to crouch down around him as she glared up at the Hulk. "How dare you touch—"

The Hulk cut her off by grabbing her by the neck. For a brief moment, she feared that would be her last moment of life, as the Hulk's hand was so massive it could've easily snapped her neck or ripped her head completely off her neck. Instead, he threw her down onto the ground near the steps with incredible force.

"Puny gods," he muttered, walking away.

Sigyn was left in a heap on the floor, unconscious, and probably with a few broken bones.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn wasn't awake when Natasha made her way down from the roof to get Loki's scepter to close the portal. She wasn't out cold for too long, though. She opened her eyes some time later and lifted her head, taking in the destruction of the penthouse suite and seeing Loki dragging himself up the steps to lie beside her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I've been better."

She watched him wince and cringe in pain while trying to touch his hand tenderly along her cut and bruised face, which was just as cut and bruised as his. The sound of feet shuffling behind them caught their attention as they turned to see the Avengers standing there, aiming weapons at them.

Sigyn was too tired, but Loki attempted to quip with them.

"I think we'll have that drink now."


	32. Homeward

* * *

 

Bound and shackled.

It was starting to be a regular occurrence for Loki and Sigyn, and not in the good way.

After the Avengers had arrived to Stark's devastated penthouse, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began to come out of the woodwork to assist in the arrest of the pair. Thor pulled Loki roughly up to his feet, not caring one iota for the younger Asgardian's very obvious injuries, while Rogers and Natasha tag-teamed in grabbing at Sigyn. The cuffs were brought out and clasped down around their wrists before they were led away. They could've easily used magic to get out of this mess; but they were tired and hurting, and the effort that would be needed they couldn't be bothered to muster up. Thrown into separate S.H.I.E.L.D. prisoner transfer vehicles, Loki and Sigyn were taken to an undisclosed base just outside the city in Brooklyn; possibly the same location Sigyn had initially gone to when S.H.I.E.L.D. got her to join them, which was the original SSR base underneath the barber shop.

They were marched forward through sterile-looking corridors, surrounded by armed soldiers, but still kept separate which didn't bode too well with either. Loki was taken to one cell, where he was temporarily locked up, and Sigyn was taken to another cell. She wasn't sure if their cells shared a wall, but as soon as she was within hers, she went to the wall to her right and placed the palms of her hands against the cold metal and then leaned her forehead against it.

_Loki, can you hear me?_

No response came at first, so she cast her eyes away and took a step back to sit down on the bench offered to her in the cell. She looked around at her confines, taking in the toilet at the other end of the cell and a water fountain in case she, or any other prisoner who had previously occupied the cell, got thirsty.

"How thoughtful," she remarked aloud.

_What is?_

Sigyn smirked. _The water fountain in my cell. Do you have one, too?_

_I do_ , Loki replied telepathically. _Are you next to me?_

_Yes._

_I'm sorry about this, but it's the only way we can get home._

_What?_

_Thanos is the name of my so-called benefactor._

_I'm not familiar with the name._

_He has plenty to do his bidding for him; you would sooner know_ their _names than his._ Loki's voice sounded antsy in her mind. _He wants the Tesseract, and I wanted to get back to Asgard, but I needed to get to you first. The only way to bring you home was to involve you in this plan of mine. I couldn't undermine Thanos completely. His threats are not to be taken lightly. I've seen him do horrible things to those who betray him. Unimaginable things._

_How will he get the Tesseract now, though?_

_It will most likely be returned to Asgard with us, where I will bid my time. If and when Thanos comes for me there to see that I make good on our deal, I will alter the deal slightly and offer the Tesseract for Odin's throne. He can pretend to make a play for the throne himself; maybe Thor is killed in the process. Perhaps Odin, as well. My bravery in "driving" Thanos away and saving the lives of all in Asgard will wipe away any of my transgressions and the throne will fall to me once more._

_That all sounds rather chancy, my love._

_It's a work in progress, I admit._

_Technically, the throne could also fall to me_ , Sigyn spoke.

_Continue._ He was intrigued.

_I am an heir to the throne. I am the only granddaughter of Bor and niece of Odin. The line of succession, in a perfect Asgard, would pass from Odin to Thor, and if Thor were to die childless, to you if you were forgiven. However, if you are not forgiven by the Allfather, and if Thor were to die childless, or even abdicate, the throne would pass to me, as it would've gone to my father first were he still alive and not banished here to Earth._

_Huh. I cannot believe that escaped my mind._

Sigyn shook her head with a faint chuckle. _I couldn't rule Asgard alone and I wouldn't want to. I would either want you by my side as my king or not at all._

_I will not stop until I have that throne and make you my queen. I promised you that position and I will see it through._

_I've no doubt you will._

 

* * *

 

Nick Fury had come by to Loki's cell sometime later that night to gloat about the Avengers' victory over Loki and bemoan the death and destruction he caused. Sigyn had tried listening with an ear to the wall, but the cell was built too solidly to hear anything. Instead, she went over to the door which had a small window to look out into the corridor. She couldn't see Fury, but she could hear him from there, clear as day. The way he spoke to Loki, commenting how he would be returned to Asgard and, if Asgardian justice was any kind of justice at all, he would be put to death for his crimes or at the very least locked away to never see the light of day again.

"Ant," Fury spoke, pointing a finger at Loki through the small window. He then banged on the cell door and grinned. "Boot."

Angered by his condescension toward Loki, Sigyn kicked at her cell door and huffed.

"Oh, don't think I forgot about you, Mrs. Ant." Fury stepped into her line of sight and eyed her up with a scowl. "I knew there was a reason why you were so different than any of the agents I've ever overseen. To think this whole time you were just another Asgardian, parading around as one of us for the last eight hundred years and then some." He stepped closer toward her cell door so that they could look at each other better. "Oh, yeah. Thor told me about your sob story."

"Not all of it, I am sure," Sigyn remarked. She doubted very much that Odin had told Thor anything about Narfi that Thor would've in turn shared with Fury.

"Yeah, I'm sure you got plenty of stories and tricks hidden up your sleeves. Your cousin gave me the Cliff Notes version."

"How nice of him."

Fury kept a straight face as he moved to stand directly in front of her cell door. "I should've known something was strange about you wanting to work so closely with Selvig on Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S."

"I don't see why. I did attain that PhD in astrophysics fair and square. That was my original motive for joining your little organization. You came to me because you saw what I could do and you wanted me as hired muscle and you got the brains with it as well."

"You were in Puente Antiguo when Thor first arrived, when Loki sent the Destroyer. Were you behind that? Were you planning to betray us then?"

"No," she replied in all honesty. "But I am not sorry it happened, either. You are all a means to an end, Fury. I have watched your kind come and go for a long time. Each generation thinks themselves more clever than the last, when you're all just children whimpering at the teat. There is no betraying you. There is only surpassing you."

Fury shook his head, looking down toward the floor. "The two of you deserve each other."

"Thank you," Loki spoke from his cell.

Sigyn grinned in response.

Fury looked back up at Loki. "It's just too bad, though, that when you return to Asgard with Thor to face judgment, that Sigyn will remain here, tossed away into an impenetrable cell where she will remain locked away and the key thrown out."

Sigyn's face fell and she began to glare. "I don't think you are aware of what I am capable of. No cell can hold me."

"We'll see."

Fury smirked and stalked off, the tails of his long, black leather jacket flapping slightly behind him like the badass motherfucker he was.

Sigyn stepped back from the door and turned toward the wall.

_I am going to teleport in there to you._

_No, not yet. We don't want to give them the upper hand._

_They mean to keep us separated, Loki._

_I'll figure something out._

Sigyn moved over toward the water fountain and gripped it with her hands. Channeling her rage, she pulled and ripped the fountain off the wall, tossing it in the direction of the camera up above, watching her every caged move.

_Cloak us. I'm coming to you._

_Sigyn._

_Do it, Loki._

_Very well._

Sigyn waited, and watched the room around her. Nothing seemed different or out of the ordinary, but then she felt and noticed a slight ripple in the air and smirked.

_It is done,_ he informed.

Closing her eyes, Sigyn pictured Loki's face and she felt her body tingle as every fiber of her being broke apart in a greenish glow and traveled through to his cell where she reappeared before him. He eyed her up and for a moment thought she was about to attack and ravish him by the way she looked back at him. Reaching his handcuffed hands out toward her, he cupped one side of her face and watched as she leaned into the gesture. Her eyelids lowered and she moved closer to him until she had her body pressed against his. Sensing that's where she was heading, Loki lifted his arms and encircled them around her; his shackled hands resting against her lower back. Her face pressed against his chest, Loki leaned his head against hers and just quietly inhaled her scent.

He felt a lot of his own rage most of the time these days, but only Sigyn seemed to soothe his soul.

Loki didn't speak, verbally or inwardly, and he didn't have to. The pair of them didn't always have to fill the silence with noise. Just being like this with her was enough at the moment, because he wasn't certain how many of these he would get to have.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn had returned to her own cell a short time later and sat down on the bench just as Loki removed the cloak from both their cells that had cast the illusion that they had stayed separate the entire time. Loki wasn't able to sit, though. He remained standing, pacing back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back, waiting to see which Avenger might come to gloat next or if he'd be given any update about when he'd be extradited back to Asgard. He was well aware of the camera on the ceiling aimed at him and he was sure someone was watching; he just wasn't sure who. Could it be someone of importance or merely a low-level security guard? Loki turned often enough to stare at the wall he shared with Sigyn, and closed his eyes; concentrating on her scent which lingered on and around him.

At some point, he heard the heavy metal door at the end of the sterile gray hallway clang open, followed by a pair of footsteps; one considerably more heavy than the other. Curious, Loki stepped toward his cell door and focused on the small window in time to see Thor walk past.

The elder brother turned and caught Loki's eyes, scowling with a tightened jaw.

Loki said nothing of greeting, but moved closer to see where Thor was off to. At his cell door's window, Loki found Thor to be standing in front of Sigyn's cell as the guard with him opened the door and then Thor disappeared. Loki focused his hearing to try and listen in.

Sigyn looked up from the bench as Thor entered and stepped around the water fountain she had thrown earlier. There was a large puddle of water where the fountain had been, but the water had stopped flowing as someone who had been watching the initial camera from the security feed had let someone else know, who then turned the water off.

Thor glanced around the room briefly before eyeing her carefully.

"Welcome to my humble abode, cousin," she greeted sarcastically. "I'd offer you something to drink but as you can see I'm in the middle of redecorating." Sigyn gestured to the cell around them. "I'm going for a post-apocalyptic, minimalist look."

"Cease the jesting, Sigyn." Thor folded his arms across his chest. "I am not here to for idle chat."

"Then why _are_ you here?" She narrowed her eyes and stood up in front of him, mirroring his stance by folding her arms under her bosom.

"I need to know why? What changed you?" he wondered. "You were so kind and sweet once."

"I was a young, idealistic fool once upon a time, Thor. I was newly married with the naïve notion that nothing terribly bad would ever happen to me. And then I was banished, without any real warning. I didn't get to say goodbye to the man I loved. Of course, I didn't know this until about two years in when I found my father and I attempted to come home. I cried and I screamed for Heimdall to open the Bifrost to no avail. The Allfather turned his back on me, his own blood, just for visiting my father. Legitimate criminals have gotten lesser punishments back on Asgard." Sigyn stalked casually around Thor and he just stood there, silently listening. "Him denying me and banishing me, I felt I could live with. His reasons for doing so, as idiotic as I still view them, were terms I could grow to accept. But what I could not accept was him denying my son to grow to never see or know his father."

Thor turned his head sharply at the last word and knitted his brow at Sigyn. "Loki has fathered no children."

Sigyn smirked. "Oh, but he did," she assured. "I was barely pregnant when I came here all those centuries ago. I didn't realize it until after a month when I became ill and tired. And then I gave birth, to a beautiful boy whom I named Narfi, and he was the light in my life while I continued my search for my father. Several times I thought of giving up and just coming home so Loki would know his son." She rolled her eyes. "Not that it would matter, as I had been unknowingly banished by the point anyway."

"You gave birth to a son?"

"Loki's son," she stressed. "And, as we both know, through me, Narfi was of your father's bloodline, as well; the first great-grandson of Bor."

"Where is he?"

"Dead and buried," she replied succinctly. "Murdered, actually. Literally stabbed in the back, through to his heart, by the human he considered his friend. And, oh, how I rained my raged down upon the murderer for taking such beautiful a life away from me." Sigyn stepped back in front of Thor, dropping her arms to her sides and looking up at him, almost as if daring him to fight her. "I walked in darkness for so long. My father helped as much as he could to pull me out of it, but it was never enough. And then, a few centuries ago, upon losing the human woman he loved, my father took his own life and left me completely alone here. Obviously, I didn't take that too easily. I took innocent lives in the throes of my rage and grief, and I feel no remorse. I suppose I'm broken. The only thing that has helped me navigate my darkness was the hope of seeing Loki again for he was the first light of my life and will be the last. After losing a child and wandering a foreign world for as long as I have, nothing truly matters anymore. Except Loki. Always Loki. For the first time in a little over seven centuries, I was happy again and you dare take that from me."

"It is not I who made the decision to wage war on an innocent race."

Sigyn scoffed. "They are far from innocent, these humans." She backed away and looked at Thor as if he was covered in shit. "They kill and rape, they steal and lie. They are no better than vermin."

"How can you say that? How can you have gone your entire life here without caring about them?"

"I can count on one hand the amount of humans I have cared about in the last eight hundred years and most of them were when I first arrived, when I was inexperienced to their true nature."

"I am sorry for your plight cousin. I never agreed with my father's decision, and regret that I did not speak against it. I have often wished I could go back and change things. Had I known you had given birth to Loki's son, my nephew, I would've fought as hard as Loki did to argue your case all these centuries."

"But you didn't."

"No, I didn't," he agreed. "The punishment my father saw fit to place upon you was in no way equal to the crime he felt you committed. I can understand more of your anger and rage now, how easily Loki's delusions may have swayed you and corrupted your already broken heart."

Sigyn smirked and turned away slightly from Thor. "He didn't sway me. He didn't force my hand to help him. I offered my help of my own volition because he is my husband, Thor. My love and devotion to him is unbreakable. We have been kept apart for so long, but nothing has lessened what I feel for him. If anything, it has enhanced it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all."

"You killed people, Sigyn."

"I've killed a great many over the years. Be more specific."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. agents; men and women just doing their job to protect and keep the peace."

Sigyn held a finger and turned to glare at Thor. "I only killed those who deserved it or who tried to attack me. I have never killed for sport. Any fatal wound or immediate death I delivered to any human had a purpose and wasn't for naught. You might think their deaths unnecessary, but they were a necessary evil."

Thor held a hand up and gestured to your head. "That reasoning is just as deluded as Loki's."

"Great minds think alike." She smiled wickedly at him.

"I do not believe you are just like Loki. You may love each other as fiercely as any beings have ever loved before, but that does not mean you must follow his lead or offer your assistance in his mad schemes. Innocent people have been hurt and killed. Buildings destroyed. Lives turned upside down. The mess you have helped him create is a horrible one."

Sigyn couldn't be bothered. She shrugged her response.

Thor shook his head. He was not sure how to approach his cousin and make her see that she needed to think more clearly. She hadn't done half the damage Loki had done, but she had been beside him, supporting him all the way, and that made her guilty enough. Because of the life he now knew she had led on earth and the terrible, personal tragedies she had experienced, and all that loneliness, he wanted to help her get back onto a better path.

"You will have to answer for your crimes, Sigyn. That I cannot prevent."

"I am not asking you to. I will take on whatever is thrown at me, whatever punishment is handed out." Sigyn reached her hands out and placed them on Thor's forearms. "All I ask is you take me away from here and let me face Asgardian justice. Let me look into Odin's eyes so that he may face me when he hands out my punishment instead of behind my back like some devious tyrant. Take my life or throw me into a cell for the rest of my days, but I would have it be in Asgard. I cannot and will not be separated from him again. I will take the coward's path like my father and take my own life if I am to never see Loki again."

"Do not be so dramatic," Thor frowned. "I will not allow you to take your own life. That is no honorable death."

"There is no honor in death." She pleaded up at him with her eyes, tears of frustration stinging quite a bit. "Please, cousin; that is all I ask of you. Wherever Loki goes, I go. If he goes home, then take me home…"

Thor knitted his brow together; sad, tired, sympathetic and still very angry. "I will talk to Fury." He cast his eyes down and turned slightly toward the cell door. "I can make no promises, though."

With a nod of her head, Sigyn silently acquiesced and watched as he withdrew from the cell. It was locked after him and she listened to his heavy footsteps come to a stop outside Loki's cell. She listened carefully.

"Are you bringing her home with us?" Loki was not able to hide the tone of hope in his voice. "We cannot leave her here. She doesn't deserve to be left here. She never has."

"I know that," Thor replied. He wasn't looking at Loki. He was looking straight ahead with clenched fists.

"I have no right to ask anything of you, this I know, but I ask you to bring Sigyn home. Leave me here to rot, take my head from my shoulders, whatever you want to do to me, just do it. Just don't leave her behind. She deserves a second chance."

Thor turned his gaze slightly to his little brother, his glare softening. "I do not want to leave her behind. I told her I would talk to Fury about bringing her home," he spoke compassionately. "You, however, what will be done to you when we get there is not up to me. That decision befalls _our_ father."

The emphasis on 'our' was spoken so that Loki knew Thor meant it. Whether or not they shared the same blood, they were raised as brothers and they would always be brothers, no matter what Loki did. He might hate his brother a hell of a lot at the moment, but his love for his brother was never in question.

Loki's nostrils flared. He turned his gaze away and took a step back from his cell door, nodding in understanding.

"I would expect nothing less, _Odinson_."

Thor sighed deeply and looked back straight ahead, walking off without a moment's notice. The guard followed and not long after the sound of the metal door at the end of the corridor opened and slammed shut, and then locked.

Loki stepped even further back, turning to look over his shoulder briefly as he took a seat on the bench in his cell.

_Do you know how much I love you, Sigyn?_

Sigyn smiled within her own cell at his voice ringing pleasantly in her head. _Yes, I do._

_Forever and for always, beyond this life and the next…_

… _Until time itself ceases to be,_ she finished the reciting of their wedding vows.

_And after that_ , he added. _You are my everything. You are my wife, the mother of my child, my best friend, and my queen without a throne._

_For now,_ Sigyn smirked.

Loki leaned his head back against the wall. He knitted his own brow together, feeling a pang of worry; not for himself but for her. She was so devoted to him that she would follow him anywhere and do anything for him, and while he was honored that such an amazing woman as she would choose to remain at his side through all the ups and downs and for more bad times than good, he didn't want her to meet the terrible end such a life with him was likely to lead to. He still feared the vision The Other placed in his head, which was another reason why he wanted Sigyn to return to Asgard with him. He couldn't assure she would be safe anywhere else.

Closing his eyes, Loki tried to bury the worry and the fears and the anxiety, and instead focus on the love he felt for Sigyn and the love she felt for him in return. It would get him through whatever came next for him; for _them_.

_For now_ , he repeated back to her.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn was lying down on the bench in her cell when the door was abruptly wrenched open. She snapped upright, realizing she must have fallen asleep at some point within the last few hours, which made sense. She hadn't slept in days and, with all the exertion put on her body, she needed the rest. Blinking away the sleep from her eyes, she looked across the room to see Clint standing there alongside a few guards. He wouldn't look her in the eye and just dictated for the guards to approach her. One had handcuffs at the ready and the other two guards had guns pointed at her should she try anything.

"Where am I going?" she asked.

"You're being transferred."

Her nerves began to fray. "Transferred where?" S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prison facility, The Vault, was an option. It didn't really matter where, to be honest. If it was not on Asgard and away from Loki, she would rather choose death.

"You don't get to ask the questions."

"Implying _you_ do?"

Clint finally lifted his eyes and stared her down, clearly very angry, as the handcuffs came down around her wrists. "I fought alongside you over the last couple of years, on more occasions than I can count, and all the while you were planning to turn on me like that?" The muscles in his arms flexed as he balled his fists at his sides. "I considered you my friend and you let that monster you call a husband climb inside my head and mess around; make me do things I would never do. He made me kill for him; he made me turn on the people and the job I care about."

"Would you rather I let him kill you? Because that was the only other option," Sigyn replied.

"Maybe I would've been better off."

She emitted a halfhearted laugh. "Well, I made a choice. I chose to keep you alive and useful."

"You played us from the beginning," he reiterated.

"No," she said, as the guards began to lead her out of the cell. "Only a little over a year. Everything prior was genuine."

"One day is more than enough." Clint followed behind her and the guards. "So, Loki calls you up after centuries apart and you drop everything for him, just like that?"

"Yes." She stared straight ahead at metal door at the end of the corridor. "He's my husband."

"If he loved you, he wouldn't have put you in that kind of position."

"He didn't," she insisted. "I chose him. I will _always_ choose him."

"I almost wish I could do to you what he did to me, but then I remember I have morals and you're already his mindless drone, so what would be the point?"

Sigyn snickered, but she didn't bother saying anything else. Her heart wasn't into bantering with Clint any further. She had very few regrets, and letting Loki take control of Clint just wasn't one of them because she knew it was the only thing that had kept him alive and she never wished him dead. She didn't have to explain herself to him anymore than she already had.

The guard that had handcuffed her opened the door at the end of the corridor and stepped aside so the other two guards and Clint could walk out. She had been this way since the day before and she wondered where Loki was. She knew he wasn't in his cell because he would've called out to her verbally or telepathically. Corridor after corridor they went until they reach a set of elevators and boarded. Up several floors they went and Sigyn began to recognize some parts. It definitely _was_ the secret base in Brooklyn that was located under the barber shop. They then approached a vehicle bay where Sigyn was loaded into a van.

The entire time she knew she could just teleport away, but she decided against it.

Mainly, she just wanted to know where Loki was first and foremost.

She feared he had already been taken back to Asgard with Thor and she hadn't gotten the chance to say goodbye to him for good, again.

Sigyn, with the guards surrounding her, guns still at the ready and Clint in the passenger's seat, looked forward to see why the van hadn't gone anywhere yet. She didn't ask Clint because she figured he would just ignore her, and she would've been right. She watched him from the back of the van as he put his sunglasses on and then turn to his left and nod at whoever was approaching the driver's side door. When it opened, in slid an agent Sigyn had never had the pleasure or misfortune of meeting before.

She leaned back a stared at one of the two guards opposite her, finding amusement by how he squirmed under her constant gaze. As she had no idea where they were taking her, or how long it would be, she had to pass the time somehow.

 

* * *

 

The ride out of the secret base only lasted about twenty-five minutes in late morning traffic that took them from Brooklyn, under the Hudson River through the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, looping around through the Battery Park Underpass and out onto FDR Drive in Lower Manhattan before they eventually reached the Upper East Side and approached Central Park. When the van came to a stop, Clint looked over his shoulders and ordered everyone to stay put. He hopped out first and walked away to parts unknown before the doors at the back of the van opened up without any warning. The two guards opposite Sigyn climbed out, guns lowered as they gestured for Sigyn to get up and get out as well.

She was rather confused, as she looked around at the scenery around her. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and you'd never know a battle had taken place the day before with how peaceful everything sounded and looked in the park. Despite what had happened life still went on.

As she was brought forward, she spotted Clint a few vehicle lengths ahead, beside a car S.H.I.E.L.D-issued car, talking about whatever and several agents in suits standing as lookouts with earpieces around the Bethesda Terrace. A few other vehicles were parked on either side of the road, including a convertible that Stark was climbing out of with the Tesseract's silver case in his hands. Banner and Rogers approached and then Clint and Natasha stepped away from the car. Clint gestured for the guards to hand Sigyn off to him just as she spotted Thor holding onto Loki's arm as they walked toward the terrace.

_Loki!_

His eyes turned to hers instantly and, when she saw he was cuffed and his mouth was muzzled, her heart broke for him. Thor stopped in his tracks when he saw Clint and Natasha walking up with Sigyn and nodded to the pair.

"You can let her walk on her own. She isn't going anywhere," Thor promised, eyeing his cousin.

"Are you leaving with him now?" she asked. "Are you letting me say goodbye?"

She could hear Natasha whisper into Clint's ear, "You've kept her in the dark, haven't you?" and Clint's response was simply to smirk.

Thor held Sigyn's eye. "This is not a goodbye. You are coming with us."

Sigyn smiled a little and looked at Loki who had seen better days and was clearly none too happy about the muzzle. Fortunately for the couple, however, that they didn't need verbal words to communicate.

_You have no idea how happy I am to see your face. They told me nothing this morning whether or not you were coming with us. I have been lamenting this moment, but now you are here._ Loki breathed an audible sigh of relief and turned his gaze momentarily away from Sigyn and back to Thor.

_Why the muzzle?_ She wondered. _Do they not know how your magic works?_

_Thor insisted it was so I couldn't spout anymore lies._

Sigyn scowled at her Thor in response and moved up against Loki, lifting her hands to grip her left bicep and lean into him. _At least we're together. For now._

There was no telling what lay ahead for them once they reached Asgard.

Off to the side, Stark opened the Tesseract's case while Thor turned to shake hands with his team, as well as giving Selvig a hug. Banner took the Tesseract out using what looked like kitchen tongs, so he didn't touch it with his bare hands and placed inside a glass tube, held by Selvig. When it was carefully sealed inside, the glass tube was given to Thor who held onto one end while giving Loki the other end, who reluctantly took it.

_This is it,_ Loki said to Sigyn, casting his eyes to her.

"Hold on tightly to him, unless you desire to stay behind after all," Thor advised.

Sigyn ducked down underneath the chains that connected from one handcuff around Loki's wrist to the other and then stood back up so that she could stand against his front. One hand grabbed on tightly to his jacket and the other clamped down over his hand which held onto the glass tube.

She simply smiled at him and looked upward as Thor twisted his end of the tube.

The three of them began to glow with the bright blue light of the Tesseract which shot a beam of energy into the sky, and moments later pulled them up with it.

Sigyn hadn't traveled like that in so long that she felt a bit dizzy and leaned in closer to Loki, closing her eyes to block out the blur of space whipping past them. She felt Loki's other hand move to hold her firmly up against her waist to keep her stationary with him while looking down at her. He completely ignored Thor who was looking upward toward their destination.

The entire trip felt like it last forever and mere seconds all at the same time.

Before they knew it, the energy beam they were traveling through shot through to the needle of the Observatory, much like the Bifrost did and they came to an abrupt stop at the base of the platform where Heimdall normally stood with his sword. Since the gatekeeper hadn't used the Bifrost to bring them home, since they had done it themselves, he was merely standing off to the side with his sword instead.

Sigyn pulled away a bit and opened her eyes to look up at Loki. Slowly, she turned her head and saw Heimdall standing there behind them. Thor pulled the glass tube containing the Tesseract away from Loki's grip and then there were several Einherjar approached with shields, swords and/or spears in their hands. They were more than ready to lead Loki and Sigyn away.

The pair locked eyes, sharing the same sense of trepidation in their eyes, as if saying, "here goes nothing."

"Welcome home," Heimdall's voice echoed off the curved walls of the Observatory, a faint smirk on his lips.


	33. Blood Spilt

* * *

 

Shackled from the feet up to the neck is how Loki and Sigyn found themselves being led away from the Observatory. Thor had taken it upon himself to remove Loki's muzzle and pass it off to one of the guards before he followed behind with the Tesseract as Heimdall remained stationary to keep vigilant watch, as always. There were Einherjar each on either side of the couple and the rest stood in front, leading the way toward the palace. Without a horse to ride and bound as they were, walking the entire way was a slight bit annoying and took more time.

"How bad of a slap on the wrists do you think we'll receive, Thor?" Loki quipped, trying to look over his shoulder with an impish smirk.

"Shut up, Loki." Thor was in no mood.

"Don't antagonize, my love. Pick your battles."

"Apparently I don't do that very well, as we've all just recently witnessed." Loki cast a glance at his wife and winked at her, which received a smile and eye roll from her. He then looked sideways at the guard at his left who seemed to be clenching his jaw as he stared straight ahead. "What, no comment from the peanut gallery?"

"How about none from you," Thor suggested. With a gruff sigh, the burly Asgardian prince took longer strides forward to push between his brother and cousin and the Einherjar that maintained a firm grasp on them until he was in the front. He turned briefly and gestured with Mjolnir at Loki and Sigyn, but spoke to a few of the Einherjar in the front. "Take the back, and keep a watchful eye on those two."

Twirling Mjolnir around, building up speed, Thor then pointed the hammer up and forward and flew off toward the palace, leaving them all behind.

"Well, that was rude," Loki continued to jest.

"I think you've gotten on his last nerve," Sigyn responded. "Leave the poor brute alone. He's plenty to be stressed about."

"And we don't?"

"We've made our bed, Loki. We knew what we were doing, what we were getting ourselves into. Thor asked for none of this." Sigyn looked forward, but she could feel Loki's eyes on her. "Despite it all, he still loves you as his brother. He has this light in his eyes; a hope he's clinging onto. It's quite sweet and sad at the same time."

"Since when have you become Thor's biggest enthusiast?"

"Come now, don't be so bitter. Thor was never the problem. I remember him to have always been sweet and loving when he wasn't growling and smashing things." Turning to her left, she met Loki's constant gaze while ignoring the two Einherjar between them. "We both know who the real problem always was and is."

 _Odin,_ they thought simultaneously.

The gentle smirks upon their lips gave way to mutual scowls as they got nearer to the palace and the man who was the bane of their existences that they saw as the source of all their troubles. The glistening gold of the palace felt like it stood miles above their heads the closer they approached and the same sense of dread seemed to wash over them both as the outer gates were opened and they passed through the first threshold. They were met by steely gazes from the Einherjar standing guard at the gates and when they walked onward toward the palace doors, citizens within the city walls turned to each other and covered their mouths with their hands as they whispered in hushed tones, speculating and gossiping.

It was strange for Sigyn. Had this been on Earth and people were doing the same as she walked by, she would've held her head high and not given a second thought to them. But these were her people, fellow Asgardians. She suddenly felt as if she were some sort of disfigured goblin, and she wasn't alone in that feeling; not entirely. Loki, like Sigyn, cast his gaze downward, lost in thought as they were brought through the palace doors. They could both practically hear Odin breathing already the closer they got. It was more like a funeral march in a sense because there was that possibility they could be condemned to death. At least, then, they would still always have each other.

Before they entered into the Throne Room, Sigyn was pulled back to stand behind Loki so that he would be entering first; both still surrounded by the Einherjar.

 _I hate to admit that I am terribly nervous_ , Sigyn shared her thought with him.

Though his eyes were toward the floor, he shifted his gaze to the side as if able to see her standing there. _I will not let any harm come to you, my love. Fear not._

His assurances didn't do much to quell the anxiety building up in either of them, but they were, however, able to mask it with brave faces. Off to their right, a figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal it was just Thor. He no longer had the Tesseract or the container holding it in his possession, and Mjolnir was absent as well. He simply stood there with his large arms folded across his chest, watching his brother and cousin with a firm gaze.

"Good luck," he muttered.

Loki looked at Thor and narrowed his eyes. "I don't want your luck," he spat, as if accepting it was like being offered a bowl of steaming feces.

Thor didn't respond. He shifted his gaze to Sigyn, who appeared to be the more reasonable of the shackled duo and, in truth, always had been. "Good luck to you, then." He winked, smiled faintly and then turned to walk away.

"Show the prisoners in!" bellowed Odin; his voice bouncing off the tall, cavernous walls.

It was a voice Sigyn had not heard in many centuries and was somehow able to make her feel like a child again at the mere sound of it. She could tell, as she stared forward at the back of Loki's head, that he was having somewhat of the same reaction. She could tell by the way his shoulders flinched slightly and his whole body seemed to tense up with fear, anxiety or rage; possibly all three.

The Einherjar guarding them marched them slowly forward into the Throne Room and just over Loki's shoulders Sigyn could see the All-father seated at his throne with his queen, Frigga, standing at the base of the throne's steps, anxiously wringing her hands as she settled her gaze upon her youngest son with disappointment and sadness, and yet still so much love, there in her blue eyes.

"Loki," she muttered, apprehensively.

Loki turned to face his mother. "Hello, mother," he greeted. "Have I made you proud?"

 _Loki_ , Sigyn chastised.

"Please, don't make this worse," Frigga replied in a hushed voice as if she were overheard she would somehow be punished most severely.

"Define worse."

"Enough!" Odin barked. "I will speak to the prisoners alone."

With one last look toward her son and another toward her niece, Frigga obediently exited the Throne Room, leaving Loki and Sigyn alone with Odin and the Einherjar. Loki turned to face the king, his chains clanking, as he clicked his boots together as if making some sort of statement or trying to further assert defiance.

Chuckling, he spoke, "I really don't see what all the fuss is about."

Odin remained unmoved upon his throne, much like a statue. "Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go there is war, ruin…and death."

"I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent God." Loki steeled his gaze in an attempt at a dig. "Just like you."

Odin shook his head slightly. "We are not Gods. We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do.

"Give or take five thousand years," Loki quipped, smirking.

"All this because Loki desired…a throne."

_How dare he trivialize—_

Loki cut his own thought process off by biting out, "It is my birthright!"

Leaning forward, Odin shouted, "Your birthright…was to die!"

 _And he wonders why we loathe him,_ Sigyn thought, narrowing her own gaze defiantly as she clenched her jaw. Her fists tightened and she was so tempted to teleport behind the All-father to snap his neck. That thought had leaked out as well and Loki had heard it and silenced her with an internal "shh".

"As a child; cast out onto a frozen rock," Odin continued without missing a beat. "If I had not taken you in you would not be here now to hate me."

Loki stepped forward, causing the Einherjar who flanked him to move with him as they held his chains like he were a dog. "If I'm for the axe then for Mercy's sake; just swing it," he spoke rather softly. "It's not that I don't love our little talks it's just…I don't love them."

"Frigga is the only reason you're still alive, and you'll never see her again. You'll spend the rest of your days in the dungeon."

Taking a step back, Loki looked as if he had just been physically slapped in the face. To deny him ever seeing his mother, biological or not, the one person aside from Sigyn who he loved more than anything and loved him back despite his transgressions, was unthinkable. His death would've been understandable in never seeing either woman again, but to live and never see them.

"What…what about Sigyn? She is still my wife. That has never changed. Are you to deny me my wife a second time?"

"You got on without her these many centuries and the first thing you do when you find her again is a series of insurmountable crime and violence. I cannot see how having the two of you together again would ever be a good idea."

Loki shook his head. "I do not accept this."

"It is not a matter of whether or not you accept it. It is my decision and you have no choice but to abide."

Sigyn's chest felt incredibly heavy. _We'll find a way, Loki. We always do._ She couldn't help but feel defeated; despite the hope she tried giving her husband.

 _Yes, of course we will, my love._ He wasn't entirely convinced either and his heart ached over it. Glancing down at the floor as the Einherjar casually began to pull at his chains, another thought entered his head that he felt the need to address Odin with. "And what of Thor? You'll make that witless oaf King while I rot in chains?"

"Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the nine realms and then, yes, he will be King."

Two Einherjar placed hands on Loki's shoulders and began to pull him away to remove him to the dungeon where he would begin his life sentence in a cell for one.

"No," Sigyn sputtered and she pulled forward, causing the Einherjar holding her chains to loosen their grip so that she was able to hurry over to Loki. She grabbed at the lapels of his outer jacket and pressed her forehead to his chest. "No," she repeated more quietly. "I would rather die than live without you again." Tilting her head upward so that she was met by him looking down at her, she pouted. "I just got you back into my life. I…I cannot…"

"We will be together," Loki spoke with true conviction in his voice. "I love you."

"I love you more," she murmured, smiling sadly.

Just as the Einherjar were about to successfully pull the pair apart for good, Loki stole a deep and loving kiss from her lips and stared only at her as he was led away. Hot tears began to sting at Sigyn's eyes, her nostrils flared with grief and anger and she pursed her lips together as tightly as possible to keep from releasing an unholy shriek of rage.

"Now for you, niece," came Odin's voice as Loki finally disappeared from view.

The Einherjar still guarding Sigyn forced her to turn and face the All-father while she temporarily focused her gaze at the steps up to the throne. "Do not call me that," she spat without missing a beat. "You lost that privilege when you denied me almost eight and a half centuries ago."

Odin did not appear overly cross with her. He, in fact, leaned back in his throne and stared down at her with a softer gaze than the stern one he had looked upon Loki with. "You stood by Loki despite everything he did on Midgard. You did not once stop him. You allowed innocent lives to perish in his childish desire for a throne. What have you to say for that?"

Sigyn scoffed. "No _innocent_ blood was _knowingly_ spilt," she specified, finally raised her eyes to stare back at him. "I know that you are well aware of how much and how long I suffered there; the decades and centuries of loneliness. My son, whom I brought into this life and watched grow up into a handsome young man, was so brutishly betrayed and murdered by one of those savages. My father finally found the love of his life and ended his rather than live without her; without even a thought about what I would do or how I would go on. And I know you were watching. I saw your ravens that day when my rage took hold of me. I also know you never told Loki he even had a son, because if he _had_ known, he would've sold his soul to get to us and turned his back on you and this kingdom without a second thought. But, of course, that wouldn't have fit into your perfect plan that you had for him."

She was surprised Odin was letting her speak this long without cutting her off with his usual growl of anger and annoyance. Stealing a step forward, she ran the chances of being pulled back by the Einherjar but no such thing happened so she chanced another step, maintaining her gaze with him.

"There were too many years of foolishly allowing myself to become caught up in the lives of those fragile humans around me, when the select few I truly did care for always wilted and died like flowers underfoot. And then I saw a chance. The human race had evolved and was reaching for the stars and I thought, just maybe, I could someday reach them myself and find my way back to Loki on my own. And I think I found a purpose for a while, albeit a fleeting one. But, then a gift arrived," she smiled, as if remembering a wonderful dream. "Loki, himself found me and I finally had hope again and there is nothing I wouldn't do to keep that love and hope in my life. I willingly went along with his every plan and I even offered suggestions along the way. I was and always will be his faithful wife, his constant companion, the mother of his child and, I suppose you could say, his trusted adviser."

"You have killed many people in your many years on Earth," Odin stated.

"And as I told Thor, I only killed those who deserved it or attacked me. I never killed for sport."

"Would you say those servants of your father's, when he died, deserved death at your hands?"

"Those were unfortunate deaths. Collateral damage when I was blinded by grief and rage."

"And the family of the young man who killed your son; did they deserve their fiery deaths?"

"Again, I was blinded by grief and rage. What would you have done if your precious Thor had been struck down in such a way, unprovoked, in his youth? Would you not have retaliated?"

"I would not have eliminated an entire family who were innocent of the crime their son had committed."

"I suppose that is an area where we differ." Sigyn shrugged. "It is not as if I made a habit of it. They were isolated occurrences and my centuries of grief and loneliness that followed were certainly penance enough."

Odin and Sigyn both fell silent, staring each other down; Odin deciding on the next course of action to take against his niece who apparently wished to no longer be considered such anymore, and Sigyn wondering what was to happen to her.

"You are correct in that I have looked in on you all these years, from time to time, and was indirectly witness to all you have suffered, as well as the violence you inflicted as a response. The one thing I am most aware of was your great passion for the human race that I am not sure you, yourself, are aware you exuded. There were indeed far more moments wherein you loved and cared for the people of Earth. You befriended several, you saved lives, and you even raised one girl as your own child. I believe you named her Mary."

Sigyn tensed up at the mention of her adopted daughter who had taken her own life after never being able to truly recover from the loss of her stillborn daughter, whose identity Sigyn had then assumed to return, more youthful, into the mortal world as Astrid. "I did," she nodded briefly, unable to deny the fact.

"You saved the life of a boy, who would have been horribly killed by a Midgardian vehicle, without a single thought. Your instinct was to care and protect. You fought alongside that human group S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect the people of Earth. And, most recently, amidst all the carnage created by Loki in New York, you took time out to save a family and destroyed one of those Chitauri soldiers that were under Loki's command. You didn't have to, but you did it anyway."

Again she nodded. "I did."

"Even in your grief and sadness, Sigyn, you still found a way to find purpose and to love, without Loki. You are not a bad person. You have made many a bad choice, but I believe your good choices outweigh the bad. Still, that doesn't change recent events. You were not the ringleader, nor were you a pawn. You were a willing accomplice and you shall be punished as such."

"So, a life sentence in the dungeon for me as well?" Sigyn pursed her lips together again, breathing steadily as she awaited final sentencing now that they'd gotten the bulk of the matter out in the open.

"Not quite."

Sigyn tilted her head slightly in curiosity.

Odin sat forward again, straightening his posture. "You will serve three months in the dungeon, confined away from Loki, and then you will be released into Frigga's custody. That kindness you owe to your aunt. It was her suggestion, as she believed releasing you into the custody of your mother might prove…disastrous."

"Frigga wasn't wrong," Sigyn agreed. "I have no desire to resume a relationship with my mother."

"A sad and unfortunate sentiment."

"I have lived more years without her and the ones I did live with her I wished otherwise. I do not see the sentiment as sad or unfortunate."

Odin raised an eyebrow. He knew all too well how the relationship between Sigyn and her mother, Freya, had been strained in the past. He felt no need to inform Sigyn that Freya had made no inquiry about her daughter's well-being or doings during her banishment on Earth. He was certain the former Valkyrie loved Sigyn in her own way, but he could not deny there was no love lost. Unfortunate, indeed, no matter what Sigyn believed.

"You learned much in the ways of science on Earth in recent years and I would like to see you put use to those skills, so I will have it arranged for you to work under the guidance of my lead physician, Eir, upon your release from the dungeon."

Sigyn narrowed her gaze at her uncle whom she loathed so greatly. "Why this kindness?"

"Because I made a mistake many centuries ago for banishing you as I did and for upholding it for so long despite everything that has happened," Odin replied. "There has been too much ill will within our family which has come to a head in recent years and I do not wish to see it continue into the coming years. I would like Thor's reign, when he takes the throne, to be one of peace, both among the nine realms and within these hallowed halls. And, for what it is worth, I am sorry for the loss of both your father and your son."

"I accept the terms of my punishment very graciously, but I regret I cannot accept your apology. Sorry doesn't bring them back."

Odin looked down, away from Sigyn, who remained staring at him. With a flick of his hand, he gestured to the Einherjar to remove her to the dungeon. "I shall see you in three month's time," was all he said to her.

When she was turned around from him and led away, Sigyn rolled her eyes.

 

* * *

 

In the dungeon, Sigyn was taken to the female side where female guards stripped her down and allowed her to shower before giving her similar clothes to what she had been wearing to change into. She was then led off to an empty cell with a deactivated force field. Three of the walls were white, as was the ceiling and the floor and the only furniture was a bed for her to sleep on, a table with a single chair and a wash basin on an iron stand. The far wall parallel with the corridor revealed a faint line, which she was informed was a dummy wall which, when firmly pressed against, revealed to be a sliding wall and a small room with a toilet. She was handed a single blanket while she inspected the cell which would be her home for the next three months while the guard who had escorted her, stepped out and activated the energy barrier so she couldn't leave.

Sitting down on the bed, holding the folded blanket on her lap, Sigyn stared across at the blank, white wall and let her mind wander. She was a little bit dumbstruck over how easy she had gotten off on her punishment as compared to Loki. It didn't feel right to her. If he was going to spend his remaining, long lifetime in this dungeon, then surely _she_ should as well.

Fortunately, she knew of ways around not being able to technically see him. Loki had the ability to astral project or connect with her telepathically over great distances, as well as cloak himself and cast illusions. And then there was her ability to also communicate with him telepathically and teleport. If he could cloak both of their cells from the ever watchful eye of Heimdall and create the appearance that they remained separate in their respective cells, then Sigyn could teleport to him and be there physically with him, as she did not know how or if she could teleport him to her.

This was, of course, considering there wasn't some sort of extra energy barrier within the cell preventing her from teleporting. It was very possible Odin knew of what she was capable of now and had taken the needed precautions.

Well, Sigyn had the time on her hands to figure it out.

 

* * *

 

"I suppose I should be thanking you," Loki spoke, a week into his sentence. At the moment, he was dressed simply in only his pants and green tunic, which was untucked. He had only woken up from a restless sleep a few hours before and had felt no need to get fully dressed. With his hands clasped behind his back, he turned and faced his mother who glanced briefly at the table to see one of the books she had had brought to him had been recently perused as it lie open.

"Yes, you should," Frigga concurred. "You don't see any of the other prisoners as fortunate as you in their cells with niceties such as this."

Loki softened his features and nodded appreciatively at her. "Thank you," he remarked.

"You're welcome." Her expression was a mix of sadness and unwavering, motherly love.

"You are the first visit I have received in a week so I do not know what has happened to Sigyn. Could you please tell me?" he pleaded, sitting down on his bed kicking his boots out of the way.

Frigga remained standing, folding her hands in front of her. "She is in her own cell, in the women's dungeon. It's a bit quieter there, not many female prisoners."

"She was given a life sentence as well," Loki assumed, with a rueful nod of his head. He had tried to communicate with Sigyn telepathically for days but was met with some sort of block, which he figured was because he wasn't sure where she was. Now that he knew, he could zone in on her whereabouts and make an attempt that he hoped would be successful.

"No," Frigga answered. "Just three months, and then she is to be released into my custody. Your father feels that her time here in the dungeon along with her centuries and many hardships she experienced on Earth to be time served. He feels terrible for denying her all those years and knows she did a lot of good during her banishment. He believes she did more good than bad." Frigga tried to smile at her youngest son. "He may be stubborn and even impossible at times, but your father still loves you both, and he is not oblivious to the turmoil you and Sigyn have felt for so long."

"Then why keep us apart? Why lie to me for all those centuries about who I really was?" Loki questioned angrily, leaning forward. "Why didn't he tell me I had a son, or that my son had been murdered? My flesh and blood, struck down in his youth, to never know me and I him. Where was the love for me then? Where was the love for Sigyn when he let her while away alone through her grief?"

"I do not know the inner workings of his mind, Loki, but I do know he never meant for such torment to occur. I do not agree with a lot of what happened in the past; the decisions he made, I agree, were quite unjust. In his own way, he meant well. He thought he was doing what was right for you, and the kingdom."

Loki laughed. "Yeah, right."

"Loki."

Pushing up to his feet to stand once more, he turned his back on Frigga and looked down at the alabaster floor. "I'd like to be left alone now."

Frigga shifted her weight from one foot to the other, brushing her hands along the sides of her dress. She frowned and nodded, though he couldn't see her do so. "I will try and visit again as soon as I can."

"There's no rush," Loki commented brusquely, which he knew was a low blow. He could almost feel Frigga recoil from the unconscious snub.

"As you wish, my son."

Loki looked over his shoulder to see her reach a hand out to him. Just as he moved his own hand to clasp around hers, it passed through, revealing the she truly wasn't there with him; a fact he already knew but had pretended wasn't true. He'd never admit aloud, out of pride, but he wished she was there physically so he could hug her. As he watched his mother fade away, Loki clenched his jaw and turned his back to the main corridor as a guard walked past, resuming his watch of the prisoners at Loki's end.

Out of frustration, Loki grabbed his open book and flung it at the barrier, causing it to be singed into a pile of ash onto the floor. In the process of leaving his hand, one of the pages cut into his finger and he watched as a drop of his blood fell to the floor.

Oddly, for whatever reason, it felt like a harbinger of things to come.

 

* * *

 

"And how are you faring, darling?"

Sigyn was lying on her side, on her bed, facing the wall when she heard the voice of her aunt. Rolling over, she then sat up to see Frigga standing near her water basin. "How…"

Frigga brought a finger to her lips. "Shh," she hushed with a smirk. "I was never here."

Sigyn mirrored the queen's impish expression and nodded. "I've lived in worse conditions, so I suppose I cannot complain." She gestured to the sparse furniture and the books on the table which had been delivered two days after her incarceration. "Thank you for all this. I know it is you who was behind these conveniences."

"You're welcome."

"How is Loki?"

Frigga chuckled slightly. "The two of you, I swear, get right to the point." She moved closer toward the bed where Sigyn sat and clasped her hands together as she had in Loki's cell. "He's in good health. He misses you."

"I miss him as well."

"I've no doubt."

"Will I ever get to see him?"

Frigga took another step closer and crouched down so that the two of them were nearly eye level with each other. "I cannot promise anything, but I will try to press Odin about some sort of visiting arrangement."

"You mean conjugal visits?" Sigyn snickered slightly and smiled.

The older Asgardian woman reciprocated the smile and shrugged. "I was never told about your son Narfi either and I was very angry with my husband when I was finally informed, after Loki's…descent. I would love more than anything to be a grandmother someday to a child I can hold in my arms and love. I can only imagine what a beautiful child Narfi was and what a blessing he was in your life while you had him."

"He was," Sigyn nodded, tears of both happiness and sadness stinging her eyes ever so faintly. She turned her face away somewhat so that Frigga couldn't fully see Sigyn wipe those tears away. Then, she let out a laugh. "I don't think I can help but find amusement in the fact that you want to help arrange conjugal visits for your own son and niece."

Frigga shrugged again. "I've been around much longer than you and I know all too well that there are just some things that are necessary to preserve family bonds. And I believe such visits serve as an incentive to motivate prisoners to comply with the various day-to-day rules and regulations of the dungeon."

"Do you believe that for every prisoner?"

"Well, no. Admittedly I am biased."

Sigyn grinned. "If you see Loki, will you tell him I love him and miss him?"

"It's not really a matter of _if_ I see him." Frigga whispered and winked at her niece. "But I will tell him, even though I am one hundred and fifty percent certain he already knows."

"Thank you, once again," Sigyn commented. "I cannot help but wish you had been my mother instead when I was growing up. My childhood would have been much more pleasant."

"Your relationship with Loki would have been than much more frowned upon by Odin. You would have been brother and sister, even if still not blood-related." Frigga stood up. "You are instead Loki's wife, and therefore my daughter through marriage and I would like to think that sometimes we do get to choose our family, and I am happy to be considered your mother."

"I'd hug you very tightly right now but I know you're not really here. I can tell by the static in the air."

"Oh?"

"Loki learned it from you, didn't he?"

Frigga smirked, but admitted nothing. "I cannot confirm or deny that." She turned and her face went still quite abruptly before looking back at Sigyn. "Someone's coming. I have to go. Take care, darling."

Before Sigyn could respond, Frigga had disappeared.

 

* * *

 

"Which one were you visiting against my orders?"

Frigga spun around and greeted her husband with an innocent smile. She shook her head and approached him with her hands out to take his. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Is that where Loki got his gift for lies from?" Odin raised the eyebrow over his good eye and looked upon his wife with amusement. "He is supposed to be spending the rest of his days in complete confinement, to never see you or any of us again."

"So, you choose to punish me as well? You know very well that is not fair to do your wife, after all my years at your side, loving you and honoring you even when I sometimes wish I could smash you over the head with rock."

Odin sat down on one of the chaise lounges in their bedroom chamber with a tired sigh. The years of going on without a full Odinsleep were taking their toll again. He was able to grab brief catnaps here and there to take the edge off, but it was never enough. He could only wait until Thor was ready for the throne for good and, in the meantime, Odin was forced to soldier on.

"I would never intentionally do any such thing to you, my wife. Loki must pay for his crimes."

"But I shan't."

"No, I suppose I cannot truly stop you even if I tried."

"Not really, no."

"Then I suppose we must keep up the pretense of me not knowing about these visits you're going to keep on making by turning a blind eye, no pun intended."

"It looks that way." Frigga sat down beside Odin and wrapped one arm around his shoulder and then placed her free hand on his leg closest to her. "While we're on the subject of visits, my dear…"

The All-father sighed, wondering what to expect next. He looked forward at the small table before them and waited patiently for Frigga to continue.

"It's in regard to Loki and Sigyn," she began as Odin grunted. "Now, I know he is to spend the rest of his life in the dungeon, but Sigyn will be free to go, more or less, in a few months and we cannot expect her to go the rest of her life without them seeing each other. Even if it is only once every other month, or once a year, I feel they should be allowed to visit each other…" she trailed, "…in the family way."

"You want me to give my permission for Loki to receive a conjugal visit? Is that what you're asking me?"

Frigga was prepared to dance around the subject a bit more but decided to be more assertive. "Yes," she confirmed. "I am."

Odin rolled his lone eye and looked at his queen. "That goes against my ruling."

"Not exactly. You never actually said he could not receive Sigyn as a visitor. I may have left the Throne Room, but I was listening in on the conversation and know you said Loki would never see me again, although we both know that won't exactly happen either."

Odin couldn't deny that Frigga was right. He had never clarified Sigyn and Loki were to forever remain apart. He had only made a comment that he did not see how the pair being together again would be a good idea after everything that had happened.

"I could declare an addendum to their sentencing," he proposed as some sort of lame threat.

"Don't you dare." Frigga pulled back from him and stared him down with an unwavering gaze.

Looking back at her, he considered the possibilities. He could go ahead with the addendum and anger Frigga. However, he was a believer in the saying "happy wife, happy life" and he didn't want to make the woman he loved any unhappier than she needed or deserved to be. "I will revisit the idea of possible visits after Sigyn has served her time in the dungeon. But I make no promises."

Frigga smiled, as if she had already won. She leaned forward and kissed Odin's cheek before standing up. "Thank you. That is all I ask."

"No it isn't," Odin replied knowingly and a faint smile lingering on his lips.

Frigga simply continued to smile; content enough for the time being.

 

* * *

 

At the end of the first month of incarceration, Sigyn could be found pacing back and forth in her cell, bored out of her mind, as she still had not been able to mentally connect with Loki. She was unaware, but he was just as frustrated. Unknown to either of them, however, Odin had secretly ordered, without Frigga or Thor's knowledge, for a mixture of sorts to be concocted and administered into Loki's food that limited his magical abilities. As a result, he was unable to speak to Sigyn telepathically or astral project outside of his cell. He could still cast illusions or cloak what he was doing inside his cell if he wanted, and he could still receive astral projections of his mother who tried to visit about once a week.

All Loki or Sigyn had were brief updates on the other from Frigga when she appeared to them, and even then there wasn't much the queen could say other than they loved and missed each other and we both doing well in their respective cells, passing the time with reading.

Sigyn brushed her fingers along her table, turning her head slightly at the sight of the fiery-haired female across the way and down two cells that was pacing as well.

Lorelei was her name apparently.

Sigyn had never met her before as Lorelei's rise to infamy and subsequent arrest and incarceration had happened while Sigyn was on Earth. Sigyn did know that she wore some sort of collar around her neck that prevented her from speaking. Apparently the other woman had a way with words when men were involved and could bend their will, which explained why there were only female guards keeping watch in this section of the dungeon.

A few times Sigyn and Lorelei had made eye contact and attempted to communicate by way of head and hand gestures. Lorelei was the only other prisoner Sigyn could see from where her cell was. She knew there to be someone beside her, as she had seen the other female prisoner when she first arrived to her own cell, and had, on occasion, heard banging on the wall they shared.

As Sigyn continued to pace along, she felt a shooting pain in her abdomen, and braced herself by placing a hand on the table once more. When it passed, she stood up straight and frowned in confusion. Moments later, however, another sharp pain took its hold and the only thing she could do was sit down in her solitary chair and crouch forward, pressing her hands against her stomach. When she felt warm moisture between her legs, her eyes widened and she lifted her skirt and placed a hand between her thighs.

Like any living female of a certain age, she was used to occasional bleeding, that lasted a few days. As an Asgardian, this didn't happen as frequently as it would for a human female. But this was something different. Something was wrong.

Standing back up, she stepped close to the energy barrier and was doubled over in pain again, causing her to drop to her knees. On instinct, she reached out, accidentally touching the barrier and crying out in anguish as it burned her.

From her distance, Lorelei noticed something was off with Sigyn out the corner of her eye. She focused on the dark haired woman and saw the blood on her hands and the way in which Sigyn was hunched forward in pain. Because she could not speak, she could not call out to a guard to get their attention, so Lorelei chose to bang on her cell wall. This garnered the attention of the prisoner across from her, who Lorelei was able to gesture to about Sigyn through a series of hand signals so that the other prisoner could shout out that something was wrong.

Sigyn was lying on her side by the time a guard approached; blood pooling underneath her from between her legs. Because of who she was, more guards were brought forth to see to her immediately. The barrier was deactivated and they lifted her up, carrying her away as quickly as possible to the nearest healing room.

Frigga was present a short time later in the healing room where Sigyn lay on a table, an energy field around her. She was cleaned up by then, her bleeding stopped, as head physician Eir tended to her.

"What has happened?" Frigga demanded.

Sigyn was too exhausted by the toll her body had just internally taken that she was barely listening to the conversation held between her aunt and the woman she was meant to work under after her release.

"She was pregnant," Eir confirmed.

"Was?" Frigga looked away from the healer and back to Sigyn, who she touched gently at on the shoulder.

"I can determine she was slightly over a month along. However, prior to her return to Asgard she sustained several injuries which have taken until now to culminate in her body finally rejecting the pregnancy."

"Oh, sweet child," Frigga cooed. She glanced over at Eir again. "Will she be able to have more children in the future?"

Eir was a little confused by the question. She knew all too well that Sigyn and Loki were married, as all of Asgard did now, and that they were locked away in separate cells in different parts of the dungeon with Loki sentenced to a life in prison for her crimes. She could not see how Sigyn would become pregnant again by Loki's doing if he were to remain as he was. Ignoring her own silent questions, Eir looked back at the Soul Forge which was highlighting Sigyn's physiology.

"I do not see why she wouldn't be capable of carrying a child to term, if she refrains from the extent of injuries her body is still healing from."

"I wasn't aware she was so badly hurt."

Eir shrugged, shutting down the Soul Forge which caused the energy field to disappear from around Sigyn. "She was not brought to me upon her arrival. She was sent immediately to the dungeon."

"Do you think this failed pregnancy would've survived had she come to you at once for medical inspection?"

"Yes," Eir asserted. "I do."

Frigga shook her head sadly. "How terrible," she muttered quietly. "She lost one child already, so long ago. I know she would have been happy with this one had it been meant to be."

They both looked at Sigyn who had slipped into a peaceful slumber, thanks to Eir discreetly inducing one. The royal prisoner slept; blissfully unaware of the conversation being held just a foot away from her.

"She will want to know what happened when she wakes," Frigga continued. "I would like to be the one to tell her."

Eir nodded. "Of course, my queen."

"I don't want this information leaving this room, though. I want no one else to know, least of all Loki. There is already enough stress and anger in this household. There doesn't need to be more right now; not while Thor is so tirelessly working to bring the realms back together in peace."

"I understand."

Frigga leaned forward and placed a kiss on Sigyn's forehead. "I am so sorry for this, sweet child," she whispered. "There will be others."


	34. Exercises In Trust

* * *

 

In the days following her miscarriage, Sigyn healed, alone in her cell, with plenty of rest and soothing teas prepared especially for her by Eir who felt sad for the wayward princess. In the healer's eyes, the younger woman had fallen in with a bad seed and let him become her everything to the point it changed her. Eir, herself, had never married or become dependent on any man. She may have never become a shield maiden or Valkyrie, but she was strong of will and fierce of heart like the rest of them, forging a life for herself. She had, once upon a time, wished the same for Sigyn; the first time she had met the girl, back when she was just a child who had fallen from one of the tallest trees in the palace gardens.

Sigyn had been playing with Loki, following him up into the tree, like she had so many times before, but that particular time she somehow lost her balance. Her left arm broke upon her fall and she cried so much when her father brought her to Eir, with a little Loki trailing behind, so full of worry and apologizing for her getting hurt. Eir had ushered him out of the healing room, but he had snuck back in afterward to wait at Sigyn's bedside table while she rested with a sling over her shoulder.

" _I'm sorry you fell," Loki had mumbled, looking sheep as he patted the hand of her good arm. "Does it hurt badly?"_

_Sigyn shrugged. "It did, but I was given something to take away the pain. It should heal in a few days if I'm careful."_

_Loki beamed, while Eir and Ve (before he had officially decided her preferred the name Lodur) stood off to the side, talking among themselves about Sigyn's care and for her to stay away from tree climbing for a while._

" _That boy will be her death and ruin if she keeps following him so blindly."_

_Ve had turned abruptly at Eir and narrowed his gaze. "They are cousins and best friends; they are each other's world. You see how Loki clearly cares for my daughter's well-being. Do you know he cried, too, when she fell? Seeing her hurt is the last thing he would want," Ve insisted. "Loki is a good boy and he has a good heart. A little mischief now and again keeps that heart young." Ve patted Eir on the shoulder and smirked. "Maybe you should get up to a little mischief sometime. You seem as you could use it."_

_Sigyn's father had then approached both children and scooped his daughter up into one arm and placed his free hand onto Loki's head, as the boy had only come up to his waist._

" _I'm feeling much better, father," Sigyn smiled._

" _That's wonderful, my sweet child." He looked between the pair. "What say you both to seeing what kind of delicious treats we can steal from the kitchens?"_

_Both children grinned widely; exceptionally happy at the idea, as the three left the healing room together with Eir watching after, shaking her head._

Sigyn was recalling that memory.

Now, as an adult, she was able to focus on the looks Eir had given her and Loki so very long ago when they were but innocent children who didn't know any better or have any worries in the universe. Sitting at her table, leaning over it with the cup of tea in her hands, she stared at the pot full of special tea Eir had brewed specially for her.

Suddenly she didn't trust the tea.

It finally made sense that, after all these years, just like her mother, Eir had never thought highly of Loki even as a child when he did not deserve such a low opinion. And Sigyn was expected to work for that woman? She appreciated how she had taken care of her recently and her candor over the matter, but now things seemed a little clearer in hindsight.

Sigyn pushed the pot off the table, watching the contents spill out onto the floor. She stood up and walked over to the energy barrier, looking down the corridor to her left where she once more saw Lorelei pacing. Unlike Sigyn, the rest of the female prisoners were without beds, tables and chairs, as well as books to occupy their days and nights. There was a lot of lying around, pacing and the occasional screaming and banging on walls when they could no longer handle the boredom. And then the cycle repeated until the day they were released from the dungeon, if they ever were to be.

Making eye contact with Lorelei, both women nodded at each other, but this time Sigyn mouth a thank you and placed a hand to her stomach.

Lorelei nodded again in response.

If it hadn't been for her signaling the other prisoner, it was quite possible Sigyn could've wound up in more dire circumstances. Perhaps she would have bled out and died. She couldn't bear to die in such a way, while incarcerated, and have Loki find out. She could only imagine how his heart would break, and she didn't want that.

Sigyn would somehow make it up to Lorelei. Maybe, she could pass along her books from Frigga or the furniture, even. Sigyn wouldn't need it anymore. Or, maybe, there would be something more Sigyn could do for her.

Only time could tell, she supposed.

 

* * *

 

At the end of their second month of incarceration, Frigga hadn't been able to visit Loki. Security in the dungeon had recently been increased due to Einherjar arrests at the behest of Odin and Thor, whilst the latter continued his quest in bringing the fighting among the nine realms to an end, slowly but surely. Frigga was able to visit Sigyn briefly, following her unfortunate medical emergency, which Sigyn had been fully informed on by her aunt and then pleaded for Loki to never know.

Sigyn hadn't even known she was pregnant and the loss was so sudden, she couldn't mourn the life that had attempted to grow within her. There was no need to add to Loki's lamentations. Frigga had agreed, believing the same. She had told Odin, though, who expressed his condolences on the matter to his wife, and also agreed that Loki need never know.

Halfway through Sigyn's third and final month in her cell, Thor came to visit her. He stood outside with his hands at his sides; staring at her while she sat at her table, idly reading and unaware of his presence.

"That book must be terribly interesting to hold your attention so."

Sigyn looked up and smiled curiously at her cousin. She dog-eared the page she was on and closed the book before turning in her chair to face him more fully. "This is an unexpected visit." She gestured to Lorelei who was watching intently. "Careful now; you're not entirely safe here. I understand Lorelei has a way with men. Your virtue may be in peril."

Thor snickered and glanced over his shoulder, briefly, at the redhead. "That one and I have a past and that particular past is why she's in here now."

"Ah," Sigyn nodded, tempted to laugh at the image threatening her mind. "So, to what do I owe the honor?" She gestured toward him.

"Oh, nothing, really," he responded, though she could see it was a veiled lie. "I was just curious to see how you were getting on."

Sigyn watched as Thor nodded to the nearby guard, who then deactivated the energy barrier to Sigyn's cell. Casually, Thor stepped up into it and then nodded for the cell to be reactivated. Sigyn just watched him with carefully as he walked around; taking in every nook and cranny that she had already taken in, every day, for the last two and a half months.

"My mother has been as generous with your lodgings as she has with Loki's." He pointed to the chair she was sitting on. "I am fairly certain that is part of a matching set."

"I feel as if though there is something more you want to say to me, Thor, and I'd rather you would just speak your mind."

"Are you not one for small talk, cousin?"

"I may have been once upon a time, but not anymore."

"Very well." Thor turned around and sat down on her bed; his left arm resting across his left leg while his right arm bowed as his right hand gripped his right knee. "I have come to propose an idea to you. I have already suggested it to my father and he has left it as my final decision, depending how this," he gestured between them, "conversation goes."

"Letting you stretch your wings in preparation for becoming king someday soon?"

"Something like that," Thor replied. "He has been allowing me to make more decisions where the kingdom is concerned."

Sigyn raised an eyebrow with mock interest when, in truth, she could care less about his royal duties. "So, you were saying about a proposal…" she spoke. "I hope it is not marriage. I already married one cousin. Marrying a second might just be pushing it," she teased.

Thor smirked. "No, I am not proposing marriage. That would just be weird. No, I am aware you are to work under Eir in a few weeks, but I think a lot of your skill might be wasted in the healing rooms."

"Oh?"

"You trained as a shield maiden; you know how to wield a weapon and fight. I have seen firsthand, in recent times, you stand strong in the midst of death and destruction and remain resilient."

"You flatter me."

"No, I am stating fact and I think I could use you on missions to the other nine realms to put an end to this warring Loki's actions started."

"I wouldn't say he started it all. The problems among the realms were always there. His actions merely gave them a nudge in the right direction…or wrong direction, depending on your position in the matter."

"Nevertheless, what say you? I know there is a fire in you that wants to burn. You have anger that needs focus and direction. Fighting alongside Sif, The Warriors Three and I could be cathartic; reformative, even."

"So, I would not be working in the healing rooms then?"

"Not unless you wish to."

"I do not."

"Then it is settled," Thor spoke, standing up. He watched as Sigyn stood up as well, staring back at him. "You will still be released into my mother's custody during your down time, following your stint here, but when you are with me, on the battlefields or while on missions of diplomacy, you will be transferred into my custody."

"You make it sound as though I am a possession."

"That is not the intention, but you know very well we cannot completely trust you anymore because of the things that have happened in months prior on Earth."

"Wouldn't that be the same time where you saw me stand strong and remain resilient?"

"Technically, yes." Thor let out a long, steady breath. "Do we have an accord?"

Sigyn stared him down, and then shrugged. She turned and sauntered around to the other side of her table, dragging her fingers along the surface; only briefly breaking eye contact. "I am trying to wrap my mind around this kindness. First, sentenced to such a brief stay in the dungeon compared to Loki, then the minimal comforts I have been afforded in here, and now you offer me a job of sorts that will allow me to travel and be among the populace of, not just Asgard, but the other eight realms. I just find this all," she gave a slight wave of her hand, trying to find the right word, "Unexpected."

"After all the things that has happened between you and this family over the last millennia, things you have done or were done to you, I believe we can consider, upon your leaving this cell, to be a blank slate. We can call it _almost_ even."

"How long will I remain in yours and your mother's custody once I am free of these walls?"

"That depends on you." Thor shrugged and moved toward the energy barrier. "Time will tell, I suppose."

Sigyn moved fully around the table so and approached him. "Should we shake on it?"

Thor went to lift his hand toward her, but stopped; apprehensive. "It's sad, really. I am not even sure I can trust you to shake my hand."

"Then how do you suppose to trust me, fighting at your side?"

"Well, there is always Volstagg who could easily come to my defense by picking you up and snapping your back in half."

"I'm serious."

"As am I," he commented. "If, upon your release, you try to harm me or anyone I love and care about or if you betray me or anyone I love and care about in any way, depending on the severity of your potential offence, I will either see you rotting back in here until the end of time or dead."

Sigyn tilted her head slightly and gave a nod, considering her options. "Sounds fair." She held her hand out to Thor and waited to see if he would finally reciprocate the gesture.

After a moment, he gave in and extended his hand and shook hers very tightly. "Then we have an accord."

She smiled coyly up at him and he just looked contemplative back at her before taking back his hand and gesturing to the guard outside the cell to deactivate the energy barrier so that he could exit. Sigyn just watched quietly after him, inching nearer to the barrier. If she were quick enough, she could dart out of the cell and maybe teleport into Loki's cell and perhaps teleport away with him as long as they were touching. So many thoughts ran through her head before she chose to be a good girl and remain.

The energy barrier went back up when Thor was once again standing in the corridor. He turned, clasping his hands behind his back as he looked up at her.

"Who knows," he spoke, piquing her curiosity again in regard to what he might say. "Perhaps someday I will even be able to trust you enough to hug you."

Sigyn smirked, watched him nod politely at her, and then turn and walk off to exit the dungeon, but not without stealing an amused glance over at Lorelei.

 

* * *

 

Two and a half weeks later, Sigyn stood in the center of her cell while two guards approached. Behind them, followed Thor with his red cape swishing back and forth with each step he took. One of the two guards deactivated the energy barrier and then both stood back so that Thor could enter the cell.

"Is this typical protocol; the crown prince of Asgard escorting the prisoner from her cell on her last day of incarceration, or did you have nothing else better planned for the day?" Sigyn quipped.

"The latter," he quipped right back. He pointed to her books which were neatly stacked on the table. "Do you want to bring any of those with you?"

Sigyn shook her head. "No, but if it isn't too much to ask, could you give a few to Lorelei?"

"Why?"

If she told him that she felt she owed the redhead a favor for helping to get attention to her predicament two months before, then she would have to explain what that predicament was to Thor and she didn't feel that was a conversation the two needed to have. She would have to give him some sort of valid excuse if she was going to get those books to Lorelei.

"Why not?" she instead deflected. "I think I've grown fond of her, and what harm could reading do?"

Thor contemplated for a moment or two, looked at the books, and then back to Sigyn. "One book," he finally replied, holding up his index finger. "Make it a dull one."

Sigyn smirked and rolled her eyes as she perused the books, choosing a thick, leather bound novel entitled, _Meeting at the Future_. She ran her fingers over the cover and opened it up, casually flipping to the last page and smiling. "This one," she decided, closing the book and handing it to Thor. "I rather enjoyed it."

" _Meeting at the Future_?" he read the title aloud. "What is it about?"

"A woman who suffered in her past and decided to make different choices in order to have a better life," Sigyn explained in a nutshell. "I believe your mother felt it would be therapeutic."

"And was it?"

"Yes, I suppose in a way it was."

Thor allowed Sigyn to exit the cell first and then he trailed after her, looking down at the book again and flipping it over. The guards then nodded their heads to the royal cousins and then entered the cell to clear it out for whoever would end up taking residence within next. As they came upon Lorelei's cell, they stopped and Thor leaned down, setting the book at the base. Within the cell Lorelei smiled demurely at him with her eyes as she stalked near the barrier keeping her in. She crouched down so that she was more level with the pair, but her focus was on Thor only.

"Still not as impressive without your voice, are you, Lorelei?" The collar she wore hid her mouth and nose from view and muted and words she tried to speak for the last six hundred years. "I wonder, have you forgotten what it sounds like? I have," Thor teased.

"Can you just give her the book already so we can get out of this place, please?"

Thor allowed the smile on his face from antagonizing Lorelei to remain as he looked at Sigyn. "I will leave it here for now. The guard that brings her food to her later can give her the book with it." He turned back to Lorelei. "Count your blessings. Lady Sigyn, here, has found a soft spot for you and is bequeathing you some reading material. Savor its pages. It is the only kindness you will ever be shown and not from me."

Lorelei turned her gaze to Sigyn, and it softened and seemed appreciative.

Sigyn smirked and pointed at the book. "I want to thank you for your help for when I…had that bad time a while back," she spoke. "And I think this book will help you; maybe not right away, but someday in the future."

Thor gave a chuckle and picked the book up again to flash the cover toward Lorelei. "Ironically, I do believe that is what the book is about."

Shooting her cousin a sidelong glance and then rolling her eyes slightly, Sigyn returned her gaze to Lorelei who did the same. "The last sentence of the last page had such deep meaning for me. I hope you find direction in those words."

The message in what Sigyn was saying and the look shared between both women seemed to go over Thor's head. There was double meaning there and Lorelei seemed astute enough to catch Sigyn's drift. In response, the redhead nodded. She then balled her fist and crossed it over her heart in a gesture similar to the salute usually given to Odin by his loyal soldiers. To Thor, he took the gesture as a simple sign of solidarity between two women.

"You're welcome," Sigyn muttered. Moving her attention to Thor, she placed a hand on his bicep. "Can we go now?"

Thor, who was still smirking at Lorelei at her expense, cleared his throat and let his expression become more serious. "Yes, of course."

The two turned and walked off down the remainder of the corridor and up a short flight of stairs before passing through to another corridor. Sigyn hadn't paid much attention when she first arrived three months ago and was now taking in every detail she could swallow up of the dungeon interiors and every wing that branched off the main corridor they were in.

"Where is Loki being held?"

Thor turned around, facing behind them while still walking. He pointed at the very end of the corridor that dropped down to a steep set of stairs. At the bottom, Sigyn could just barely make out the set of immense iron doors that were closed tight. The wing which they had come from was only halfway down the long, main corridor and not as far back and deep down as Loki was being kept.

"Down there, with the worst of offenders." Thor turned back around but looked upon Sigyn as they walked. "So do not put any ideas in your head that you can get him out." At the start of each wing, two Einherjar stood as sentries, making sure no one entered or exited that was not supposed to. Sigyn glanced carefully at each and every one of them. "Not only are there plenty of guards on point, but there have been special measures taken to ensure Loki remains as he is."

Sigyn narrowed her eyes as they began the ascent up a steep set of stairs identical to the ones leading to the wing where Loki was kept. "What kind of certain measures?"

Thor looked knowingly at Sigyn. "You and I are not at that level of trust where I can discuss those details."

"And what, exactly, do you think I would do with those details you cannot trust me with? Sell them on the black market to the highest bidder?"

"I do not know this black market of which you speak but, yes, possibly something like that."

"Then you really do not know me very well, do you?"

The words weren't necessarily a question, but a statement. They never really played together in their youth or had much in common except that they were family. They did get on pleasantly when in the company of each other, and had always been kind and caring with each other as well. However, countless centuries apart and different paths they traveled had made them more like strangers now.

"Well, we have the rest of our lives to make up for lost time," Thor remarked with a note of hope in his voice.

"And for you me to earn your much desired trust," she added with a playful wink.

"Aye," he nodded. "I would like nothing more."

 

* * *

 

Upon her release, as promised, Sigyn was released into the mutual custody of both Frigga and Thor. The former had seen to setting up suitable living quarters for her niece with fresh linens on the bed, fresh flowers in vases and a hot bath drawn so she might shed the filth of dungeon living; literally and figuratively. Sigyn luxuriated in that bath for a good while, soaking with her head tilted back and her eyes closed as she tried reaching out mentally to Loki. It felt like calling out into a dark, empty room and only hearing her voice echoing back at her. After minutes of failed attempts, she opened her eyes and stared out across the room. Sigyn let her arms drape over the side of the brass tub, feeling considerably down despite her new freedom.

She was further away from Loki, by no longer being in the dungeon anymore, so it actually made her feel sadder. She missed him so bad and longed to hear his voice and see his face.

Once she was dressed after her bath, she walked out onto her small balcony, looking out at the golden, glittering city before her. In the distance she could make out her mother's house and, for a moment, wondered how her and her sisters were, as well as her stepfather Iwaldi; if he was still her stepfather and Freya hadn't divorced him and move on to another husband. She gripped the blonde stone railing tightly in her hand, a warm breeze flitting through her damp, dark hair as she recalled those times in her youth when Loki used to climb up her balcony and sneak in her room. She let her mind replay the memories of the two of them sitting up for hours, talking and joking and telling stories. She smiled at the memory of him teaching her magic he had learned in the library or from Frigga but she mostly smiled about their first time together, and the subsequent many other times that followed; one of which had been the moment they conceived their son.

Removing one hand from the railing and placing it over her stomach, she ached for Narfi again; dead and buried so much farther away now. She hoped to see him again one day in the afterlife; to see those beautiful eyes and that bright smile of his that made her day, every day when he was alive. She also found herself suddenly aching for the child that almost was, which she had lost two months before. She wondered if it would have been another son, or maybe this time a daughter. What would she have named it? Who would it have looked more like; her or Loki?

So many hopes and dreams, cut down.

There was a time when she was just a girl and wanted only to find a good husband and have a home and family of her own.

Well, she had it all, just never together, and that was somehow worse; to have only one at a time.

Sliding down to the floor of the balcony, Sigyn pulled her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and hunched forward, listening to the distant clanks and clangs of swords from soldiers in the midst of battle practice, the sounds of water flowing from small dams around the castle and birds chirping in nearby trees.

All perfectly wonderful sounds.

But the only sound that mattered was the one she could not hear.

Loki's voice.

 

* * *

 

"I found her on her balcony, huddled on the floor and crying," Frigga spoke candidly with Thor later on that evening after a private meal among the royal family only.

Sigyn had opted to eat in her room, and now it was just mother and son left at the table as Odin had gone off to the Throne Room to address some issue a guard had brought to him.

"What was she crying about?" Thor questioned, sipping some wine from a goblet.

"What do you think?" She retorted, looking as if she lived her life surrounded by the blind. "Loki."

"I would do my best to move on from him and find a new purpose with my life if I were her. Loki is her undoing and she has so much potential to be great and she wasted it all on him."

"Have you moved on from that mortal girl you care for so much? Jane, I believe her name is." Frigga caught the distant look in her son's eyes. "You only knew her a few days, and she still has your heart after all this time. Now imagine being in Sigyn's shoes. She has loved Loki almost all her life, and vice versa. She gave birth to his son and when she lost that son, she held onto her love for Loki to get her through many hard years alone. And your _brother_ ," she accentuated. "He remained faithful to her all those centuries. He gave her his heart and never once did I hear of him taking up with some lady, whether she be of noble standing or…of the evening, so to speak, as you were once so apt to take the company of."

Thor frowned. "I see what you're trying to say, mother."

"Do you?"

"That Sigyn's love for Loki is for life and it is not a bond so easily broken." He leaned forward, closer to Frigga. "But it is because she loves him so much and would do anything to be with him that I worry. She is of royal blood, the only granddaughter of Bor, father of my father, and therefore could not be held in the dungeon for very long. Despite the crimes she is guilty of, the people of Asgard would've never accepted such a punishment for a member of this family. So, she goes free and now has all these chances to find a way to release Loki if she wanted. She is powerful in her own right, mother. Loki taught her magic as you did him. I have seen her teleport, and I know she has some sort of connection with Loki that we do not understand. I also know there are things she can do I have not yet been witness to, but if Loki can do it, I am certain she can."

"Now what is it _you_ are trying to say?"

"That I do not know if I can ever trust her, despite how much I want to," he answered. "Every time I see her, I am going to wonder what she might be plotting. She is not this delicate flower who got plucked and caught up in the whirlwind that is my brother. She is just as smart and calculating as he is. I feel it is just a matter of time before she betrays me, us."

Frigga reached her hands across the table and enclosed them around her son's as comfortingly as possible. "You cannot let yourself dwell on the negative possibilities, Thor. You have to have hope. She is your cousin, your flesh and blood, and that has to stand for something. You have always been so kind to each other and I don't see her every wanting to do harm to you or me or…well, your father is, unfortunately, not her favorite person, so let's just leave it at that for now."

"I just—"

"Shh," Frigga cut off. "No more of this talk for tonight." She released his hands and sat back in her own chair. "You know what might be a good thing?"

"What?"

"Why don't you go to Sigyn, get her out of her room, go for a walk, and get her to open up. Be an ear, a shoulder for her to rest upon. If she can trust you, then maybe you will find you can trust her."

Thor smirked. "I swear…this is where Loki gets his way with words from."

Frigga just smiled in return.

 

* * *

 

It was a week before Sigyn exited her room and agreed to take a walk with Thor around the palace grounds, under the initial guise of getting her fitted for battle armor for when she joined him and the others when they went abroad. Their walk had culminated in the armory where Sigyn was measured for a breastplate, similar to that of Sif's.

"You seem to find it difficult to get to the heart of the matter with me," Sigyn commented, her arms up in the air as the blacksmith moved around her with his measuring tape.

Thor seemed mildly amused in watching Sigyn grow frustrated with the blacksmith who was just doing his job, but not quickly enough for her liking. "I have no idea what you mean."

"I told you I am no longer one for small talk and this is all we have been doing today. Walking and talking about nothing of great importance and it is irritating."

They locked eyes and Thor shrugged. He turned, looking around and then pulled a stool over to him so that he could sit down. "I've just been doing a lot of thinking about everything that has happened in recent years. So much change has happened and very few of it I feel has been good." He brought his eyes back to his cousin who was now able to drop her arms. "I miss the old days of our youth when everything was much simpler. I had the desire for the throne but none of the burden of sitting upon it just yet, Loki and I were close and we loved each other as brothers should, and you were still here."

"I'm here now."

"Physically, maybe, but you're not the person you were then. None of us are, to be honest. I see you drift off in thought and I can tell by the look in your eyes you are, in your mind, with Loki and always will be. That unyielding devotion to him, and you not being able to move past the fact that he will remain in the dungeon for the rest of his life, away from you, is keeping you from living your life."

"He is my life."

"And that's a problem."

"Says the man who has barely touched upon the surface of real, true love," she snipped. Thor pulled back as if insulted, which had been in a way, and tightened his jaw. "I know all about your love for the human woman Jane Foster. I've seen her picture and information in S.H.I.E.L.D. files while I was working for them, so I know what she looks like and what she does for a living."

"Are you making to threaten her?"

Sigyn chuckled. "How and why would I do that? I am under lock and key in the palace now, under the watchful eye of everyone. I can barely lift a finger without someone wondering if I might do something terrible. The only peace I find is in my room and even then I feel worse, because then I am truly alone without the one person in this universe, in this life, that I love and need most. I have no ill will against your human woman or even you, believe it or not. You have never caused me harm or wished anything bad on me, you have never banished me, and you never killed anyone I loved. You are my cousin, Thor, and although we are very different in some ways, we are still of the same blood and I love you all the same."

Thor smiled. "I love you, too, cousin."

"And I really do wish you can someday know love the way I do for Loki. It changes you and makes you feel a thousand feet tall. There is nothing better than loving someone so strongly and having them feel the same for you, and for it to never change after centuries and centuries. I suppose you could even look to your parents for example," Sigyn smirked.

"I have."

"I admire your loyalty to your Jane, but it will never last and I am sad for you because of it. She will grow old and die long before you find your first grey hair. I wish for you to find someone of our kind who will love you until Ragnarok and then some."

At that moment, Lady Sif happened to saunter in with Hogun. She stopped when she saw Thor and Sigyn look up at her, and nodded to both.

"Speak of the devil," Sigyn quipped and Thor shot her a look. "We were just talking about the armor having made for me and how I wished for it to be as strong and beautiful as yours," she lied as she noticed Thor's look soften.

"I mean no insult, but it will certainly be interesting to have you with us."

Sigyn winked and stepped over to Sif, giving her a playful punch to the arm. "Oh, come now. We were good friends once and trained as shield maidens together. It will be like riding a bike."

"A what?"

"Sorry. Human colloquialism," she explained. "It will be as if no time has passed at all."

 

* * *

 

That night, as the starry sky grew dark and Sigyn was able to view them all, along with a few far off nebulas, Loki was laying on his back on his bed, hands crossed over his abdomen as he stared up at the ceiling.

 _Sigyn_ , he called mentally. _Sigyn, please, can you hear me? Sigyn?_

Nothing.

For nearly four months there had been nothing.

He didn't understand why she couldn't hear him or why he couldn't astral project to her. He could understand her not teleporting to him, as the risk would be too great and she had her freedom by this point, that he knew. His mother or brother had not visited him in a month's time to tell him as much, but he was able to count the days. Although, since it was hard to tell when it was day or night in his cell, sometimes he felt as if they all bled together and he would begin questioning if he'd really be in his cell as long as he thought he had. Or, maybe it had been longer.

He had lived alongside Thanos for long enough to appreciate that his cell, by himself, was a considerable step up, but without Sigyn as his floatation device to keep from drowning in a sea of madness, he would find himself consumed and lost within his own mind.

He just needed to hear her voice, even if it was just one word.

Turning onto his side, facing the wall, he closed his eyes.

_Sigyn?_


	35. Toxicity

* * *

 

In the eight months that had passed since the events of New York, time seemed to have both flown by and dragged along at the same time, but it all depended on you who asked. In New York, the city was rebuilding after the destruction Loki and the Chitauri caused and Midgard, as a whole, was coming to terms with the fact that alien life truly did exist and that they were much advanced in their weaponry. The days were long and the process of fixing the city had seemed like there might be no end in sight, and yet the battle seemed as if it happened only just yesterday. Meanwhile, in Asgard and the remaining seven realms, fighting waged, but so did rebuilding.

Thor fought the battles that needed to be fought and he sought peace where peace could be made. It was a process that seemed never-ending, but it was a process that he must undertake. Fortunately, he was never alone through it all. He had his friends and longtime battle companions at his side: Lady Sif, Volstagg the Valiant, Hogun the Grim, and Fandral the Dashing.

And now there was his cousin and, technically, his sister-in-law, Lady Sigyn.

The battles and wars being fought never seemed to reach Asgard's doors and that was a blessing none took for granted, as all were aware of how terrible it sometimes was in the other realms. But not all battles were being fought physically and literally. Some were internal battles of fear, anger, anxiety, melancholy and madness. Those battles, those particular fights within one's self could last seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years even. It was not always constant. It ebbed and flowed like the tide and usually the intensity varied.

Everyone was fighting some sort of internal battle as well; particularly Loki, who had not seen hide nor hair of Sigyn or his mother, and he was truly starting to worry about his life sentence in the dungeon.

He could not come to terms with wasting away for centuries as he currently was, never to see the sky again and breathe fresh air. Frigga still had books delivered to him and she had wanted to visit him, but after a bad day for Odin, and an argument between the king and queen, the All-father explicitly barred her from visiting Loki in any way, shape or form. That, of course, meant she could not astral project to him in his cell and it broke her heart. She would not speak to Odin for days afterward for fear that she might say or do something she would later regret. Sigyn, especially, was denied visitation after Odin had originally told Frigga he would consider it. Now he was deliberately forbidding it.

Sigyn was fortunate in that she could take her anger toward Odin out on those she cut down with her sword on the battlefield. She was a little rusty at first, but a few days of training exercises before her first excursion with the other proved successful and it truly was like riding a bike.

The manner in which she fought now, compared to her years of shield maiden training, was remarkably different. She was far more precise and vicious now. She did not hold back or hesitate to make a move. Volstagg, the far more aggressive one of the bunch, was the most impressed with her and rather quite amused. Fandral seemed struck dumb but also impressed, Sif was maybe a little concerned but also a little intoxicated by the fervor with which Sigyn fought, and then there was Hogun who didn't seem to have an opinion one way or the other.

As for Thor, he was finally starting to see that he could definitely start to trust Sigyn. She had come to his aid more than once, without a second thought or any consideration to her own well-being. Recently, she knocked Hogun out of the way and taken a fiery arrow to her shoulder, just under her clavicle, barely missing her heart. They had been on Alfheim, realm of the light elves, assisting them in a fight against an army of fire giants from Muspelheim who were keen to stage a claim on the generally peaceful world. The arrow had caught Sigyn at such an angle that it had gotten around the armor of her breastplate. She fell back onto the ground, staring up at the greying sky above, wondering if those would be her final moments.

 _Loki_ , her mind cried.

Fandral was at her side in an instant, followed by Hogun, who cursed her for taking the hit. Fandral was able to pull the arrow out, but it had left a deep enough wound and the fire from it had burned her skin fairly bad around the edges of the wound. With her breastplate on, though, they could not glimpse properly enough at the damage done. Sigyn tried shaking both men off and scrambled over onto her knees in an attempt to stand up on her own, but Fandral through his arms around her waist and hoisted her up into her arms when all she managed to do was stumble around, dropping her sword in the process.

"Thor!" Fandral shouted.

Thor had turned in the midst of smashing fire giant after fire giant with Mjolnir, and his face showed he was gravely upset and properly angry when he saw Sigyn in her condition. Pointing Mjolnir upward, he pulled lightning from the sky, letting it build up within the hammer, before releasing it upon the flurry of fire giants coming his way, knocking them either stone dead or temporarily stunned out of their minds. He then rushed to Sigyn and Fandral, finding himself recalling a memory of Loki in this exact predicament centuries ago when they were fighting off bilgesnipe and Loki was stabbed in the abdomen by one of the creature's large antlers.

"How bad is it?" Thor asked, mirroring the same question he had asked his brother.

"I cannot tell with her breastplate on," Fandral replied, as an errant arrow flew over their heads. He pointed to where he had pulled her arrow out. "It managed to get her at the wrong angle. I do not know if it is very serious or superficial. Judging by her weakening state, I'm siding with the former."

"She was an idiot," Hogun admonished, coming near again, causing Thor to momentarily glare at him. "That arrow was meant for me and she shoved me out of the way."

That explanation brought a smile to Thor's face, despite the situation. "If she had not have done so, you might be dead. You should be thanking her for her heroics and not calling her an idiot."

"If she had not have done so, I might be dead, yes, but then she wouldn't be near it." He turned and spun slightly, slamming his mace twice into the head of an approaching fire giant. Hogun whipped back around, crouching with the other two men as his long black hair fell over his shoulders. Reaching his free hand out, he touched it upon Sigyn's good shoulder. "I do thank you, stupid woman."

Sigyn grinned through her pain. "Next time pay attention to your surroundings and I won't have to save your ass."

Hogun grinned right back, which was a rare occurrence for him. He turned his attention to Thor. "She cannot remain here. She is of no use to us right now in this fight. She needs medical attention we cannot give her."

"You are correct," Thor agreed. He looked across at Fandral. "I must stay here and see this through. Will you return to Asgard with her and get her at once to the healing rooms?"

"Of course," Fandral consented without hesitation. Sigyn swatted at him when he scooped her up in his arms like a groom preparing to carry his bride across the threshold. "Stop that now, or I'll leave you here to rot."

Thor stood with them as he looked skyward, "Heimdall!" he shouted and stepped back. He knew Heimdall was watching and aware of what they needed of him.

Within moments, the repaired Bifrost exploded from the sky and touched down upon the ground. With a nod of his head to Thor, Fandral leapt into the Bifrost with Sigyn and was immediately transported home. Alfheim disappeared to them and all that was visible through the light of the Bifrost around them was glimpses of stars, galaxies, nebulas and just space in general. Before they could recited the alphabet to its completion, Fandral set foot into the Observatory where Heimdall was turning the Bifrost off and stepping down from the platform.

"I have already sent word to the healing rooms to expect her. Someone will meet you halfway on the bridge to further assist you back."

"Thank you, good Heimdall."

The Gatekeeper nodded solemnly. "See that she is quickly taken care of. I wouldn't want to be the one to explain to Loki that she has perished."

Fandral raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "You and I both." He better hoisted Sigyn in his arms before taking off by foot along the Rainbow Bridge toward the city.

 

* * *

 

A short time later, Sigyn was sitting up on a bed in a private healing room. Her breastplate had been removed and her under blouse underneath it had been torn open and rolled down to just above her chest so that Eir could personally and properly tend to the wound. As the older woman worked her magic, so to speak, Sigyn looked around the room at those few who were present. Fandral had remained, and was standing at her side, two other healers who were assisting Eir, and then there was Frigga, who had appeared when she got word and stood at the foot of the bed.

"Why is everyone fussing over me? The arrow went through my shoulder, it didn't strike anything of importance," Sigyn remarked, groggily. Whatever Eir had given her for pain was also making her drowsy and her attempts at speech rather strained.

Eir looked down at her with a stern eye. "There were traces of eguam oil in the wound. It's made from the sap of the eguam thorn tree, which is native only to Muspelheim, and is incredibly toxic. Fandral said you were pierced by a fiery arrow. The fire giants must be dipping their arrows in that oil before setting them alight now."

"So, it would appear those savage beasts are finally evolving and upping their game," Fandral remarked.

"Will it heal?" Frigga questioned.

"It will. I have my assistants preparing a salve I want her to apply thrice daily for a week; upon waking up, at midday meal, and before bed."

"Why so much for so long?" Sigyn frowned, casting her eyes upon the singed hole in her shoulder.

"Because the oil had more than enough time to incubate within your body," Eir explained. "We do not want it to metastasize and further infect you. The salve has ingredients that will extract the oil and dry it up."

"We definitely do not want that," Frigga insisted, giving a knowing glance to her niece.

Sigyn smile a bit before looking up at Fandral. "You can go back to the fight now. You see that I am in good hands now. Give the others my apologies for becoming dead weight."

"Nonsense," he chided. "I intend to see your care through so that I may return to Thor with news of your immaculate recovery."

"Scared to face him with news of anything less than immaculate?" She snickered. "Thor is not the one you need worry about in regard to this unfortunate hindrance." She stared forward at Frigga and added, without having to name names, "We do not need to worry him with this either. Given current conditions, I doubt he will take to this very lightly and I, especially, do not want to add this to his woes."

The others were clever enough to know she meant Loki.

"You will be right as rain in no time," Fandral spoke, brushing some of her hair out of her face, which caused Sigyn to look at him curiously. "Use this coming week to your advantage; rest and relaxation is key. If your head is not in the mindset of healing, your body will not follow orders."

"I quite agree."

Everyone turned and found Odin standing at the entrance to the room. Eir and her assistants bowed their heads in respect and Fandral did the same while crossing his fist over his heart in salute to his king. Frigga went to her husband's side, taking his arm; much surprised to find him making an appearance in his niece's healing room, given their history and everything that has been said between them.

"If you can spare a few minutes, I would like to speak to the patient alone," he spoke, glancing at Eir and her assistants. They bowed their heads again, immediately dropping what they were doing and exiting the healing room. "The two of you as well," he glanced between his wife and Fandral.

Frigga gave her husband a knowing squeeze to her arm and whispered, "Play nice."

Fandral bowed his head again also, before escorting his queen out. Once they were alone, Odin looked upon Sigyn, focusing briefly on her open wound which would soon be properly bandaged. Sigyn would not meet his gaze, choosing to find something interesting with the side of the room. She felt too exposed and vulnerable, sitting on the bed as she was, in diminished capacity.

"I am to understand you received this wound in the place of another, is that correct?" he questioned. His tone of voice was not hostile, nor was it disbelieving. He merely sounded curious, and perhaps even a bit impressed.

"Yes," she replied, trying to remain as laconic as possible.

"Who was the intended target of the arrow?"

"Hogun."

"Do you believe he would have been killed had you not have acted so swiftly?"

Sigyn finally brought her gaze up toward the All-father. "Possibly," she answered, but then added, "In truth, I didn't think much on it."

"You just pushed him out of the way so he would not be injured, whether or not the injury would have been fatal. At that point, your own mortality was unimportant." These weren't questions he was asking, but simply deductions he made.

Sigyn shrugged. "As I said, I didn't think much on it."

Odin considered her response and gave a nod of his head, looking at the floor for a moment before back up at her. "Had you to do it over again, would you do it the same way?"

"Is this some sort of test? If I answer one way or another, will it hinder your already tarnished view of me?"

Odin clasped his hands behind his back and straightened his posture. "Do you truly believe I care so little for you?"

"We aren't exactly close." Sigyn looked away again. "The answer to your previous question is yes. I would do it over, the exact same way. Hogun is a remarkable fighter and if he were to fall in battle the loss would be a terrible one for Asgard and for his own people and I would not wish such a fate upon such a commendable warrior and man as he."

She wasn't looking, so Sigyn did not see Odin's smirk. She did, however, see him pat the side of her bed out the corner of her eye. "Those are very kind words to hear and I am glad to hear them." He turned partially away from her, spotting fabric from Frigga's dress just barely showing from outside the door; knowing his wife was listening in as usual, which brought another smirk to his lips. "You are doing well alongside Thor and the others recently and I am glad of it. You are much improved in your spirits, all things considered and it is good to see you are so invested in your brethren's well-being."

Sigyn brought her gaze over to him and watched as he turned completely from her and walked off to exit the room. "Thank you, I suppose."

Odin stopped for half a second, as if he were going to respond further, but then he simply continued on and disappeared out of the room completely. Moments after he was gone, Eir and her assistants returned straightaway so that she could finish tending to Sigyn's wound and bandaging it up. Fandral was the next to return, watching as Eir applied the salve on and around the stitches, and then Frigga was last in making her appearance. The Queen was smiling from ear to ear and sidled up to Sigyn's side as Fandral stepped back to give the women room.

"I have good news to share with you," she announced. "But I will wait until later to tell you, when we are alone."

Sigyn nodded at her aunt and looked casually at Eir, wishing she moved a little faster. She then glanced back toward the room's entrance, half-expecting Odin to be there again. "So," she muttered. "I was not expecting that visit."

Frigga smirked. "Neither was I." She took Sigyn's hand in hers. "He does care about your health and safety, though he fails to show it."

"Apparently so."

"Done," Eir announced. "My apologies to your tunic. It was necessary to get at your injury."

"It is quite alright. It is only material," Sigyn insisted. "It is the least of my worries."

Fandral leaned closer. "Do you require assistance getting to your private chambers?"

"Stand down, soldier," Sigyn smirked. "I am a married woman."

"I only meant—"

Sigyn held a hand up and cut him off. "I know. You are only being gentlemanly."

"I was," he agreed, smiling awkwardly between Sigyn and Frigga.

The Queen looked at him and placed a hand on his soldier. "You can leave us, dear. I will escort her."

Fandral bowed to Frigga. "Of course, my queen."

With a smile to Sigyn, he ducked out of the room with a slight bounce in his step. Both women looked at each other and smirked before Frigga then helped Sigyn down from the bed. Eir approached with a glass jar filled with some sort of yellowish cream and handed it to the younger woman.

"This is the salve," she explained. "Remember: thrice daily."

"I will," Sigyn promised, taking the jar. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome, Lady Sigyn."

Aunt and niece removed themselves from the healing room then and made their way around the many large corridors of the palace, their arms linked together as they walked. They passed the occasional guard, who nodded in respect to both women. Frigga had yet to speak of the supposed good news, instead either remaining quiet or commenting on trivial things of no importance to either of them. Once they had arrived at Sigyn's bed chamber, they went inside and closed the door quickly behind them. Sigyn went to take a seat on her lounge and Frigga followed suit; her face brightening with the same large smile as before.

"So, what is this good news you are practically bursting at the seams to tell me, aunt?"

"Well, I spoke briefly to Odin after he left your healing room, and I got him to admit to me how proud he is over your valiant deed on the battlefield earlier today in saving Hogun's life, one of this kingdom's much valued warriors and dear friend to Thor. Your selflessness was not lost on him and he said in light of this happening, he has reconsidered your desire to visit Loki."

Sigyn's heart leapt into her throat and her face brightened for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Seriously?" she asked, to be sure. "This isn't a dream or anything is it?"

Frigga chuckled. "No, it is very true," she assured. "While Odin is in a good mood, I should probably see to asking him if I may be allowed to resume my visits as well. They were never in person, as they had been with you, but it is better than nothing."

Not able to truly contain her happiness, Sigyn leaned forward and embraced her aunt and mother-in-law. "I do not know what to say."

"Well, it might mean taking a blow to your pride, but I would suggest thanking your uncle. If you seem ungrateful, he might change his mind again out of spite. He's done worse for lesser offenses to his own pride." As an afterthought, Frigga smirked and added, "I swear this family is as stubborn as they come when pride is concerned."

"That we are." Sitting back, Sigyn let the possibilities of what she would say to Loki when they saw each other roll around her head. Then, a concern came to mind and she turned her attention back to Frigga. "In what way will I be allowed to visit? Will I be able to—"

"—See him in person?" Frigga finished the question. "Yes, I believe so."

As happy as that made her, Sigyn knitted her brow together with further concern. "But, how would we be able to be together in…such a way?" she wondered, traipsing carefully around the subject out of awkwardness.

"You mean as man and wife?" Frigga presumed. Off Sigyn's nod, "I suppose that is a detail Odin will want to flesh out beforehand. I would like to assume he would find a way to give you two some sort of privacy."

"That _would_ be nice," Sigyn agreed, nearly blushing. She was never able to talk like this about Loki with her own mother. In fact, she had never had anyone other _than_ Loki to talk about her relationship with him to. It was this sort of strange, new territory and she quite enjoyed how freeing it felt.

"It may be unlikely that Thor will be returned in time for dinner tonight, but will you care to join your uncle and me?"

Sigyn hesitated. "I, uh…yes, I suppose I will."

Frigga smiled. "Fantastic. I'll make sure an extra setting is made up for you." She stood up and clasped her hands in front of her. "I'll leave you alone to get some rest, but I will see you later, alright?"

"Yes, thank you."

"It's quite alright, dear." Frigga let herself out, leaving Sigyn alone.

The younger woman sat there lost in thought for a few minutes, trying to piece together everything that had just happened; practically pinching herself to make sure it really was not a dream she was having. She was finally going to see Loki, and quite possibly in person! She would be able to hear him, see him, and touch him and, hopefully, more than that. It felt like eons had passed since their last time together, both in the literal and intimate sense. Sigyn longed for his arms around her as he whispered in her ear and kissed her lips. She missed the scent of his skin, the softness of his hair when she ran her fingers through it and the sound of his heartbeat when she laid her head upon his chest.

He was her everything and she was finally getting some of that back.

And when they saw each other again, she would cherish it, because who knew when they would next be able to be with each other again. Though, if it all relied on her kissing Odin's ass, then that's just something she would do with a grin.

Sigyn would do anything for to be with Loki.

She would do anything _for_ him.

 

* * *

 

Dinner that night had been understandably uncomfortable for Sigyn, despite the good news she had received from her aunt. Odin did not broach the subject at all and conversation was minimal. She was pleasant and as respectable to him as possible and, when he stood up to leave the table first after he was finished eating, Sigyn stood up as well and expressed a simple "thank you" with no other context added.

She assumed he knew what it was in regard to.

Afterward she had mentioned to Frigga she didn't want to see Loki immediately, but only because she wanted to make sure her wound was healed beforehand. She didn't want to have to explain what happened to him and cause him to fret about it at all. Frigga agreed once more that it would be for the best.

When both were sated from their meals and had tasted several different varieties of dessert offered from the kitchen, both women took a walk to stand out on one of the grand balconies that had the best view of all Asgard. The Rainbow Bridge and Observatory were in sight as well, and they happened to be looking in that particular direction when they saw the Bifrost had been activated.

"Someone's coming home," Frigga commented with a smile. She then turned to peer at Sigyn's profile. "Will you be alright to see yourself back to your chambers?"

Sigyn met her aunt's gaze and smiled, giving a polite nod. "Yes, I'll be fine."

She remained on the balcony while Frigga left her side and disappeared to parts unknown within the palace. Leaning forward on the balustrade, Sigyn stared out at the Observatory, watching as it stopped spinning and the Bifrost was closed, meaning whoever had come to Asgard was officially returned. She narrowed her sight, looking carefully to focus on whoever it was and could only make out three, no four, figures slowly making their way along the bridge toward the city.

When one of those figures threw an arm up and flew away from the others, Sigyn knew at once it was Thor along with Hogun, Volstagg and Sif.

"The prodigal son returns," someone voiced from behind her.

As she turned to see Fandral approach with a jesting look upon his face, Thor flew overhead with Mjolnir leading the way, landing with a hefty thud on one of the smaller, upper balconies that Sigyn believed probably led to his own private chambers.

"Remember when he first received Mjolnir and he couldn't initially wield it?" Sigyn recalled with a laugh. "He was so caught up in the idea of being worthy of that hammer that he forgot to actually be worthy of it. Remember how he strutted around, boasting of how he was to receive it and how there had been no other weapon like it?"

"He was certainly a prideful young fellow back then," Fandral agreed, leaning sideways and resting an elbow on the balustrade, facing her. "We all were to an extent."

"We were."

"Prideful adolescence seemed to take a long time for many of us to grow out of unfortunately."

Sigyn drew her attention to Fandral and narrowed her eyes at him. "That is not a dig at me or Loki is it?"

"What—no. I apologize. No, I actually was talking about myself and still Thor, actually," he clarified with a chuckle. "Although, up until Loki's, ah, _exit_ from Asgard some time ago, he wasn't exactly innocent of being prideful either. And, I don't mean any insult to you by it but, he still is."

Sigyn turned away, facing back out toward the Observatory. "I am aware he has his faults, but who are we to cast the first stone? None of us are innocent children anymore. I've done my fair share; some terribly cruel things that would make the great Fandral the Dashing blush seven ways to Sunday."

The human phrases were lost on him, but he seemed to get the gist. "That doesn't make me think less of you, you know," he asserted. "We may not have been friends for a long time because of your being banished all those centuries ago, but there was a time when I remember fancying myself in love with you enough to ask for your hand in marriage."

Sigyn smiled somewhat at the memory. "Until your parents forbade you from going through with that proposal because of who my father was," she reminded.

"I was young and stupid then. I should have dispelled their prejudices and gone with my heart and followed through with that proposal."

"It wouldn't have mattered anyhow," she assured. "I wasn't quite ready for marriage just yet and, although I wasn't aware of it at the time, my heart belonged to Loki. It always has. It always will."

"And what will you do for the rest of your days while he rots away in that dungeon? Will you take vows of celibacy like one of those human nuns? Will you never want to have a family of your own again someday?" Fandral questioned her. "You are still so young and vibrant with so much life left in you. You can do anything and be anything, and yet you choose to remain devoted to that criminal?"

Sigyn stood up straight and glared at Fandral. "If that is to be my life, then so be it," she spat. Then, she smirked haughtily, turning on him, like day to night. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. You are, after all, Fandral the Dashing; he who cannot stop flirting with any female that moves long enough to keep your cock in your pants. You have given yourself over and over to so many women that I am surprised that you haven't caught some terrible disease down there by now and it hasn't fallen off. Also, because of how freely you have given yourself, I doubt you will ever know real love even if it slapped you in the face."

Fandral had never looked so hurt by a slew of words before and it showed. He couldn't even form words of his own to respond quickly enough because he was just so stunned by her outburst toward him. He watched the way her eyes seemed to darken and it was almost terrifying to an extent and, in that moment, he could properly envision those terribly cruel things she had been done in her past on Midgard and it caused a shiver to go up his spine.

"Goodnight, Fandral," she said, her nostrils flaring as she spun around on the heels of her feet and stalked off back inside the palace.

Taking a shortcut through the Throne Room, she half expected to find Odin sitting there, but it was empty. The sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention though. Her face was warm from her anger which had her flustered and she really didn't want to be bothered by whoever was nearing. She was tempted to teleport to her chambers, but she couldn't be bothered with focusing on that at the moment.

"Sigyn!" a familiar female voice rang out.

Sigyn stopped, inhaled a deep breath, clenched her teeth together and turned to see Sif walking toward her, still holding her double-bladed sword from the earlier battle.

"You're looking well now," Sif denoted. "Was your injury not as severe?"

Sigyn forced a smile. "Well, I am not dead, but the oil used to light the arrow which pierced me was apparently poisonous. Eir has given me a salve to apply three times a day to rid my body of any residual contagions the oil left behind. It should be cleared up in a weeks' time and then I shall be as good as new."

"That is very good to hear. I am glad you will be well."

Fandral happened to appear from the same direction Sigyn had initially come from, caught both women's eyes and then cast his gaze downward with a frown as he stormed off out of the Throne Room.

"What was that all about?" Sif wondered, watching after Fandral's retreating form before turning back to Sigyn with a curious eye.

Sigyn shrugged innocently. "Maybe he got shot down by some handmaiden and his pride got hurt."

Sif smirked and chuckled as she gripped her double-bladed sword's center handle. "Yes, that sounds the like the plausible explanation." There was something in Sif's eyes, though, that suggested she didn't believe Sigyn's suggestion on the matter one hundred percent.

"Well, if you'll pardon me, but I was just heading to my chambers," Sigyn excused herself. "It's been a tiring day."

"Of course," Sif obliged, bowing her head respectively.

While both women had grown up together, trained together and now fought alongside each other on occasion as of recent, Sif was not actually Sigyn's equal in the eyes of Asgardian court life. Sure, she came from a well-respected family, but she was not royalty like Sigyn was. She was just a lady and a warrior, not a princess who had a legitimate claim to the throne. And what's more, looking at Sigyn now, Sif knew Sigyn was ever more aware of that fact.

"Goodnight, Sigyn."

"Goodnight, Sif."

Both women parted, going their separate ways for the night.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn never slept that night. She sat on the floor of her balcony, reading a book, until the darkness of space, with all its glittering stars and nebulas gave way to a bright, blue sky and a few clouds closer to the horizon. Birds chirping again, the sound of life buzzing outside and the distant hum of music coming from somewhere filled her ears. Sigyn leaned her head back against the archway into her room, closing the book in her lap and looking at the sky. Despite it being morning in Asgard, unlike on Earth or any other planet, space was still visible and she could still see the occasional shooting star if she paid attention long enough.

It was a peaceful thing to behold and something she had spent a long time wishing to see again. This time, Sigyn was sure as hell not about to take it for granted; the beauty of her home world.

While she got up and prepared herself for the day, Thor was already up and ready; prepared to leave once more, later in the day, to return to Alfheim to meet with light elf representative Aeltri about how a truce could be sought with the fire giants of Muspelheim. At breakfast, he sat alone, feasting on plenty of fruits, eggs and meats that were available at the table for his consumption. Frigga wasn't up yet, and Odin had already eaten even earlier, so that left Sigyn, who joined him soon enough.

She took in the sight of the food spread, or what was left and smirked. "I never thought I would say this, but I miss Midgardian food." Thor looked up at her as she sat down. "Did you ever have a cheeseburger while you were there?"

With his mouth full, Thor replied, "I have eaten something called shawarma. It was very satisfying." Then, as an afterthought, perking up, he added, "Oh, Pop-Tarts. I loved those."

Sigyn smirked. "Most people ate those using a toaster, but I preferred them cold." She grabbed a plate and began to fill it with a few cuts of meat, some apple slices and grapes, and some bread with jam. Pouring herself a glass of wine, she leaned back and sipped slowly. "Why do inhale your food so? How do you even taste any of it?"

Thor shrugged. "I spoke to my father last night," changing the subject. "He told me you would be fine, of which I am glad, but there was something I couldn't shake, afterward, as I lie in bed."

"And what was that?"

"I do not know why I thought of it, considering you had just risked your life to save Hogun's and have fought honorably alongside of us for several months now."

"Out with it, Thor," she insisted, and pointed at him. "And do please chew with your mouth closed. You look like a horse chomping at the bit."

Thor stopped chewing altogether and spit his food out onto a second plate while holding eye contact with her. Her reaction was that of disgust while he just grinned defiantly at her. "Happy?"

"Not exactly."

He wiped the corners of his mouth with his thumb and sat back. "I was remembering Loki murdering Phil Coulson so violently and the look on your face. You weren't expecting him to do that, and you didn't seem to agree with the action he took, but you still stood by him."

Sigyn rolled her eyes. "Another of these conversations?"

Thor held up a hand to silence her. "When Loki pressed that button, releasing that glass cell I was in, you didn't flinch. For all you knew, my death would've been only moments away and quite gruesome. I looked you in the eye, pleading for the madness to stop and you didn't lift a finger to stop him. And yet, here we are, together, as we once were so long ago, pretending as if everything is fine between us."

"Seriously?" Sigyn frowned. "This conversation is like a dead dog that keeps getting beaten, over and over. Can we not move past it already? Why must you insist on rehashing the details of my past offences?"

"Because I cannot help but feel as though there are wheels in your head, ever spinning. I want so badly to trust you with all my heart, and despite how grateful I am that you save Hogun's life yesterday, I do not forgive you yet for everything else."

"I don't expect you to."

"And I do not mean to rehash the recent past, but these are things I need to get off my chest."

The cousins stared each other down; neither touching any of the food before them nor drinking any of the wine that they had poured for themselves. Both had their hands gripping the arm rests of their respective chairs, trying to figure out what the other was thinking.

"If it would have been allowed and the suggestion had been proposed," Sigyn began, "Would you have stood behind a death sentence for both Loki and me, instead of separate dungeon imprisonments?"

Thor narrowed his eyes and considered. He tried to harden himself, but his large heart softened his body language. "No, of course not," he insisted. "I do not wish either of you dead, despite everything."

"Do you think I should've served longer down there?"

"Yes," he answered without hesitation.

Sigyn grinned. So there it was. Thor didn't want her around, not truly, at least not right then. "Well, then…"

"I understand you have been given permission to visit Loki," he remarked, changing the subject again.

"I have."

"When do you plan to see him?"

"I am not sure when your father will allow. But if the decision is up to me, I would prefer to at least wait a week," she answered. "I do not wish him to see me with my injury. I want to look my best for him."

Thor shook his head, scratching his beard. "He won't care about any scars you have."

"He will care that I received them and how. I have suffered plenty just in the eight months since I last saw his face and I wish him not to worry about any of it."

"What exactly have you suffered other than yesterday's injury, pray tell? A few bumps and bruises? I am sure you have dished out more than you have received in battle."

"I am not talking of battle injuries."

Thor leaned forward slightly. A light went on in his head. "When you first left the dungeon, you said Lorelei had helped you through a bad time you had. You had never met Lorelei before your stay in the dungeon and she cannot speak because of the collar she wears. What bad thing happened that I am unaware of?"

Sigyn pursed lips together and ran her tongue along the fronts of her upper teeth. Emitting a sigh, she looked down at the table and gave a shrug.

"One month into my sentence I had a miscarriage," she admitted. "I didn't know I was pregnant, though. There was a lot of blood and I lost consciousness for a while. Lorelei saw something was wrong and had helped alert the guards who rushed me to the healing rooms."

"You were with child?"

"I was."

"And you lost the child." That time it wasn't a question, but a statement.

"That _is_ what miscarriage means, Thor."

"So, then the child was conceived on Earth, during Loki's attempt at a reign of terror." He made a face of confusion. "When did you find the time?"

Sigyn glowered. "Oh, we made the time."

A slight chuckle slipped from between Thor's lips. "I am sorry, for your miscarriage and that pain you must have suffered, both physically and emotionally, because of it. However, at the rate you were going before your arrest and incarceration, what life could any child conceived between you and Loki have had with the two of you?"

"It would have at least lived," Sigyn snipped. "It would have been loved. We'll never know the sort of life it would've led because of the injuries I received on Earth when I was blasted by Coulson's gun, by Stark's Iron Man suit and when Banner's Hulk grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground with a strength I have never been witness to before then."

"Alas, I am again sorry for the loss of the life that had attempted to grow within you, but you brought it upon yourself. That child is better off returned to the heavens out of Loki's reach where it cannot be corrupted."

Sigyn stood up abruptly and flipped the breakfast table over. Food and wine went everywhere; most fell on the floor but some landed on her golden-haired cousin. She roared with anger at him, balling her fists. She would've blasted him right there with an energy ball if she knew no disciplinary action would be taken against her for striking the crown prince. "How very hateful of you to say," she spat. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"It wasn't meant to be hateful. I was merely stating truth."

"Fuck your truth," Sigyn swore, relying on the time-honored Midgardian gesture of flipping him off.

Breathing heavily in anger, Sigyn stalked away while bringing a hand to where her wound was. The material of the dress she was wearing seemed warm and moist under her hand and she realized she must've popped her stitches and reopened her wound. So, instead of seeking quiet refuge in her room, she sought the assistance of Eir.

Thor was left still sitting in his chair, picking grapes and chunks of roast pork off his chest and lap when Fandral approached, letting out a laugh.

"What in the name of Hel happened here?"

"I said a few things Sigyn did not take kindly to."

"And to think, I thought her attack on me last night was bad. She ruined a spread of perfectly good breakfast foods on you."

Thor turned in his chair and stared up at his friend. "Sigyn attacked you last night?" he questioned, standing up straight as the rest of the food in his lap tumbled to the floor at his feet.

"Only verbally," Fandral assured. "I suppose, in a sense, I deserved it. I just wasn't expecting such venom to come out of her mouth, and not directed at me, considering our shared history."

"That is because she is not quite the same Sigyn we all used to know and love."

 

* * *

 

Loki sat cross-legged on the floor of his cell, his hands on his knees with his eyes closed as he tried mediation. Around him, several books lay scattered and torn to bits after meeting his wrath following an angry bout with cabin fever. The rage he was feeling about being cooped up without seeing his wife or his mother for so many months, with no one to talk to and nothing to do other than sleep, pace or read had made him reach his boiling point. He saw red and reacted rashly, and was now regretting it somewhat.

Some of those books he hadn't even read yet.

"Hello, brother."

Loki slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring at Thor, who seemed amused by the mess within the cell. Loki was not, however, amused by _Thor's_ amusement _or_ his sheer presence. Despite that, he wouldn't admit he was just grateful to have someone to talk to other than himself or the one-sided conversations he had occasionally attempted to have with the guards who promptly ignored him.

"Thor," was his simple greeting. "What a pleasant surprise."

"I do not come here for your benefit."

"It hadn't crossed my mind you ever would."

"I come here to let you know that Sigyn has been given permission to visit you. I do not know yet in what manner or when, though I know it to occur soon." Loki's mood picked up and Thor noticed as much. "There is something I want you to do when she does see you."

"And what is that?"

"Tell her goodbye and let her go."

Loki leaned back. "Excuse me?" he almost laughed; the threat of a smile on his lips and in his eyes.

"Her unyielding devotion to you is keeping her from living a good life and having a better future. Your very existence in her life poisons her mind and darkens her heart. You are not good for her. Had you not sought her out on Earth she might have stood a chance, but the blind hope she has that you two will somehow have a life together now that she is returned to Asgard is doing her no favors. There is deep unhappiness in her and she grows darker every day despite the good things she is beginning to accomplish away from you," Thor explained. "She can never know real happiness and she will never be free while you have a hold over her heart. So, please, if you truly love her, let her go."

Loki sneered at his adoptive brother. Hunching forward, his placed his hands on the floor and pushed himself up to his feet so that he now towered over Thor, but only because his cell was at a level much higher than the floor on which Thor stood.

"Who are you to speak to me about the love I have for Sigyn or the love she has for me? You have never known what true love really is or how it makes you feel. Whatever darkness has become of my wife is darkness that has been done to her, and not by my hand." Loki winced menacingly at Thor. "Have you not considered for one moment, _Odinson_ , that maybe the reason she seems unhappy or dark to you is because she and I have not been granted the opportunity to see each other or communicate with each other in any way in nearly a year? When I am with her, her face lights up and she smiles brighter than a million suns. She makes me feel like a true god, larger than life, and I have always treated her with the respect she deserves and loved her more fiercely than anyone has ever been loved. She does not grow dark because of me. She grows dark because she is not _with_ me."

Thor looked away, shaking his head. "You cannot see the truth in the matter because you are too close and biased. You cannot step back and look upon your relationship as the rest of us can."

"I do not care what the rest of Asgard thinks about my love for Sigyn. I never have," Loki insisted. "I know what I feel and I know what she feels."

"If you knew what she has suffered because of you since returning to Asgard, you might think otherwise."

His curiosity piqued, Loki straightened his posture and clasped his hands tightly behind his back. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded; anger giving way to doubt and then concern.

"You were not told on purpose, because of how full of rage you might become."

"Tell me what you mean, brother."

"Oh, so now I am your brother again?"

"Do not toy with me."

Thor walked along, heading up the stone steps to his left and moving to the other side of Loki's corner cell, looking in at him. Loki followed suit, moving like a caged lion, eyeing up his next meal which was being dangled before him in a taunting manner.

"Sigyn miscarried, a month after being down here, due to injuries she received while blindly following at your side on Earth in your foolish scheme to rule," Thor spoke, watching as the information sank in for Loki. "Given how she felt after losing your son she bore, and how she still feels for that loss, you can imagine how the loss of another child must sting."

"That…" Loki struggled to find the right words. He cast his eyes down, his mind reeling. "Narfi's death wasn't my fault and I never knew about him, and what was done to Sigyn while she was with me was unprovoked. She never took one life at my side. She hurt no one. Her…her injuries were sustained by blasts from human weapons while trying to protect me or come to my aid, wh-while unarmed," he stuttered, growing considerably flustered by this news.

"All because she blindly followed at your side," Thor repeated. "This would not have happened if you hadn't overreached and chosen the path you took."

"Oh, _do_ shut up, Thor."

The elder brother smirked, despite the mood between the two. "I just hope this puts some things in perspective for when she visits." He turned and began to walk back down the steps in a move to leave.

"Wait," Loki called out.

Thor looked over at him. "I'm listening," he commented, mirroring the same thing Loki had said after he had been knocked off that cliff on Earth by Tony Stark.

"Tell me; is Sigyn in good health now, though? Has she healed from her miscarriage? She is alright…right?"

Letting out a gentle sigh, Thor honestly couldn't help but admire the fact that Loki really did love and care so strongly for Sigyn. It was the younger man's one redeeming quality, he supposed. "She has recently been injured again, having taken a poisoned arrow to her shoulder that had been meant for Hogun," Thor admitted. "You didn't hear it from me, though, for I do not believe she has plans to tell you."

Loki was a bit stung by those words.

Thor continued. "As I said, she has begun to accomplish good things away from your presence and I wish to see her continue on this path, but she cannot fully embrace it with you standing in her way. You are a boulder that needs moving. Up until yesterday, she seemed more like the Sigyn of old, but then she learned of her upcoming visitation privileges and she became cruel when the subject of you was broached." Thor shook his head sadly. "I will always love you, brother, but you are more poisonous to Sigyn than the arrow that pierced her was."

Without another word, Thor walked off.

Loki stepped back from the energy barrier and let the conversation he had just had run through his head a few more times. The way Thor talked down on his marriage to Sigyn and how he was to blame for injuries she received angered him, but the knowledge that Sigyn had no intent of telling him of any of these injuries hurt him more than Thor's words ever could.

His nostrils flaring and his chest rising and falling from breaths he was taking to calm himself did nothing to ease his mind.

Why would the woman he loved more than anything and who was supposed to love him keep anything of such great importance from him? And why, oh why, did it have to be Thor who was the first one to tell him about it?

Anger building exponentially despite his best efforts, Loki splayed his fingers and bursts of energy shot out around him, knocking his limited furniture and remaining books around as if a storm had just blustered through his cell.

Closing his eyes tightly, Loki roared.


	36. Rendezvous

* * *

 

There never seemed to be enough to do to fill the days on Asgard. Sigyn couldn't believe that she actually found herself longing for Midgardian distractions, like television, music and the internet. Especially the music from the last century; she had enjoyed the music from the 1980s the most because she felt it was more fun to dance to. There were only so much reading of books or taking walks to pass the time, so Sigyn figured she would take up sewing in her downtime until her wound healed.

She had gone and met with the royal seamstress who showed her the basics and then let Sigyn raid her supply of fabrics and buttons; pretty much any material the seamstress could spare. Content with her selection, Sigyn retreated to her chambers and spent the next few days working on her first hand sewn done with her own two hands.

An electric sewing machine probably would've been easier for this task. She had always meant to buy one when she was living in Pasadena in the '50s and '60s. There were plenty of instances when her adoptive daughter Mary had needed a specific costume for some such school play, but Sigyn had just gone out and bought one.

Once a week had passed since her shoulder injury, Sigyn had returned to Eir to have her stitches removed, and once they were gone, she was able to see the wound was virtually gone as well, though the scar was still prominent and slightly pinkish in color. At least it wasn't open and infected from the eguam oil anymore. That salve Eir had given her had worked wonders and, as an added benefit, it smelled amazing; like vanilla and honeysuckle.

On her way back to her chambers, she was stopped by Tyr, who informed her that the All-father required her presence in the Throne Room, so she obediently followed behind.

Seated as authoritatively and regally as ever, Odin held Gungnir in his right hand and watched with his lone eye as Sigyn approached. Both bowed toward the king, but Tyr then left, leaving uncle and niece alone.

"You wanted to see me, All-father?" she questioned, clasping her hands together in front of her lower abdomen.

"How has your injury healed?"

"Very well."

"I am glad." He twisted Gungnir in his grip slightly while he paused in thought. "You have waited patiently to see Loki and I have not spoken of visitations with you, although I am aware Frigga has shared my decision to reconsider with you."

Sigyn nodded, her heartbeat picking up pace. "She has. I will admit I have been curious, mostly, to the extent of what this visitation would entail."

"It will be just one visit for now," Odin informed. "Depending on how well the two of you behave and there are no escape attempts on either of your parts, I may choose to allow further visits in the future." He smirked faintly. "Consider this a trial run."

Sigyn nodded again. It was better than no visit at all, she supposed. "When will I be able to see him, and in what, uh…manner?" she wondered, modestly.

Odin's smirk was more noticeable now. "When is up to you. You can see him today, if you'd like, or in a month or two from now. As for the manner of how you will be able to visit, it will be in person, and I will allow a certain amount of privacy for matrimonial obligations," he artfully answered.

Despite her wish not to, Sigyn felt her face blush somewhat, so she cast her eyes down, nodding understandingly to him. "How long will I have to see him?"

"Three hours."

Sigyn's chest tightened. In her mind, she was somehow hoping she would have the day or most of it with Loki. Though, she supposed the worst case scenario would be only _one_ hour.

"Do you agree to these terms?"

"I do," Sigyn replied, looking up at Odin.

"Then when would you like to see the war criminal, Loki Laufeyson?"

Narrowing her eyes, Sigyn wondered if the words he chose to speak just then were a test to see how she would react; referring to Loki as a war criminal and bestowing him the surname which acknowledged his true parentage. Holding her head high and smiling politely, Sigyn shrugged aloofly.

"I think tomorrow would be nice."

"Very well," Odin spoke. "Tomorrow it is. Be prepared to leave to go down to the dungeon to see him at any moment. I will make the arrangements to assure your visit with him will not involve an audience."

At this point, Sigyn was just so excited to finally be seeing Loki that she didn't care if all of Asgard watched.

"I dare say I won't sleep one minute tonight out of anticipation." Sigyn took knee, then; bowing her head and crossing her fist over her heart. "I cannot thank you enough, All-father, for this opportunity."

When she brought her gaze back up, she saw Odin waving his hand for her to stand.

"Just do not make me regret this decision," he warned. "If you or he takes advantage of this in any way, there will never be another visit, ever again, and punishment befitting the offence will be handed out."

"I understand, my king."

After a few moments of silence between them, Odin gestured at her with a flick of his hand. "You may take your leave of me now."

Sigyn took a step to the left to move, but then hesitating, turning back to look at the All-father. "Will I see you for dinner, uncle?" She asked demurely.

Odin seemed a bit caught off-guard by how she referred to him. It took him a second to register what she'd said while looking upon her, trying to see if there was anything in between the lines to read. "Yes," he nodded. "You will."

"Very good." She smiled a small smile and finally exited the Throne Room.

Sigyn made a beeline for her chambers once more with the solitary goal of finishing the dress she had been working on. It wouldn't be much, but the simplicity of it would still do just fine as a dress to see Loki in for she knew, it wasn't what she was wearing that he would be interested in. And, since she was going to be seeing him at any point the following day, depending on when Odin felt like deciding, she had to do what she could to complete any last details she wanted before the night was out.

 

* * *

 

Loki was trying meditation again.

Sitting crossed-legged on the floor of his cell, he kept his eyelids closed gently. Forcing them closed tightly felt as if it was defeating the purpose of meditation. He had not had a good week following Thor's visit and revelation into Sigyn's quandaries. It had made him angry and worried; all-around _not_ calm. He had trashed his cell for the umpteenth time since his imprisonment. Most of the time, the broken pieces lay in disarray all over the place with no replacements brought in to him. Not that he every really cared. He had destroyed the things on purpose and knew what he was doing and half expected to be forced to live with everything the way it was. However, on those brief occasions following a tantrum, guards arrived with new pieces of furniture, gifted from his mother; not wanting him to live any worse off than he already was in the cell.

At the sound of footsteps, he casually lifted his eyelids, figuring whoever it was to be a guard delivering his food. By the faint growl in his stomach, it felt close to that time.

He wasn't completely incorrect; it _was_ a guard. However, there was no tray of food in his hands.

Loki rested his hands on his upper thighs and peered at the guard and inclined his head, "Yes?"

Before he could receive a response, three other guards came forward up the corridor. The first one approached, cuffs in hand, as a second guard deactivated Loki's cell's energy barrier.

"Am I being released on good behavior?"

The guard eyed him with a stern gaze. "You're being moved temporarily."

"Where to?"

Loki remained seated as the guard stepped up into the cell and clamped the cuffs around Loki's wrists. The second and a third guard came upon behind the first and moved around to pull Loki up to his feet while the fourth guard remained down below in the corridor.

The guard wouldn't respond any further to Loki; probably on orders of Odin, not to converse with the prisoner.

Loki was roughly pulled forward, out of his cell and down into the corridor, while looking around curiously. He had to admit, despite his recent findings and his mood, it was nice to move around and be anywhere that wasn't his cell, even if he had no idea where it was he was headed.

Slowly, he was led down the corridor, looking from side to side at the other cells occupied by multiple prisoners, while two guards stood on either side of him and one guard each walked in front and in back of him. The large doors at the end of the corridor were opened up and he was led through and then up the steep stairs to the main corridor of the dungeon.

"Seriously, no one is going to tell me where I am headed? Anger management? Arts and crafts, maybe?" he jested.

Once they all reached the main corridor, they turned down the second corridor on the right and doors were opened up to them. Beyond the large, iron doors was yet another corridor, however this one reminded him of the detention center where Loki and Sigyn had been kept in separate cells while awaiting return to Asgard. Within the corridor, there was what looked to be a small handful of privately enclosed cells only on one side of the corridor. The other side was just a blank, stone wall.

"Is this to be my new lodgings; solitary confinement?" Loki inquired. "No, wait, you did say temporary. Perhaps then my current cell is being given a makeover. I would not be adverse to something other than blinding white walls and flooring."

At the second enclosed cell, the guards stopped and Loki with them. The guard in front of him unlocked the door and stepped inside. From Loki's point of view, he could tell that the guard was looking at something, especially when he gave a nod of respect with his head before turning to look back at Loki. With a beckon of his finger he had the others bring Loki forward.

Loki's curiosity was at an all-time high as he was brought into the cell and, once inside, that curiosity was sated.

Seated anxiously on a bed along the left wall, was Sigyn.

His first thought was of relief and happiness which washed over him like a warm bath. She looked so beautiful and was definitely a sight for sore eyes as she was sat there in a simple blood orange dress that was definitely not of the grandeur she was worthy of and he hair pinned back somewhat to the side and combed straight instead of her usual waviness.

That initial awe and wonderment and overall sensation of love for her faded considerably when he remembered Thor's visit and what the burly blonde had told him. His face became as stern and stoic as the guards who surrounded him, and even a bit resentful as he stared at her with a tightened jaw and pursed lips. He stood still in the center of the cell as one of said guards removed the shackles from his wrists while Sigyn looked hopefully up at him.

"You have three hours," the first guard informed. "Make them count."

Loki turned, watching the guards exit the cell and lock him in with Sigyn. He could see her smiling somewhat out the corner of his eye as he took in the rest of the cell interior. Aside from the bed, which was not made for two people to comfortably share, there was a chair with a lid that was clearly a very cleverly concealed toilet and a wash basin beside it. It was even more minimal than his own cell and much smaller. A claustrophobe would have a terrible time here.

"I am so happy to see you," Sigyn spoke, standing up and approaching him. "I am beyond words."

Her desire to hide her well-being from him was still not lost on him, and it showed in how he responded to her. "Clearly," he answered, deadpan.

Sigyn withdrew somewhat to take in his expression and posture, and read through the lines of his coldness toward her. "Why do you speak to me in such a way? Are you not as glad to see me as I am you?" she questioned with a hopeful smile that was littered with concern. "Do you not love me as I do you?"

Loki blinked slowly and sighed heavily. "Of course I do."

"Then what is the issue? Have you been ill-treated?"

"I suppose, in a way, you might say that."

She narrowed her gaze and moved to stand before him. "How have you been ill-treated?"

"I would be lied to by the one person I love most. The one person I love most would deny me honest insight into her life, health and safety to protect my delicate sensibilities because I, apparently, am some sort of fragile piece of glass," he bit out, eyeing her at the end of his comment and holding her gaze.

She seemed to know, at once, he meant her, and that he knew about what had happened in her life since they last saw each other. She scanned the room, temporarily avoiding eye contact with him, as if she would find the explanation as to _why_ he knew. "You know?" was all she inquired.

"I know it all."

"H-how do you know?" Sigyn looked back up at him, almost looking hurt by his knowledge.

"So you admit it?" He leaned in toward her, sneering with a sense of betrayal. "You would deny me the right to know you had been pregnant and lost the child, and that you have been seriously injured? Do you not think I had a right to know or that I am incapable of handling such knowledge?"

"I—"

"I am your husband, Sigyn Vesdóttir! I have every right to know!" Loki shouted, cutting her off. He clenched his right fist and iron stand on which the water basin sat wrenched and twisted, although the basin, itself, somehow remained upright. "Do you forget our vows so easily?"

"Of course not!" she insisted, nearly shouting as well.

"Really? Because I seem to remember the ceremony going something like: my blood is your blood, your blood is my blood. It is _our_ blood now," he recalled. "We drank that wine and it was supposed to symbolize our life and strength, the sharing of our lives until the end of time. Basically, what happens to you happens to me and vice versa." He grabbed her shoulder. "If something happens to you, Sigyn, it happens to me. But, I can see clearly now. You are free from this dungeon and you are free to roam the nine realms with the Almighty Thor at your side and play the warrior with him and those lap dogs he calls friends. You are free of me, living the good life in Asgard. I bet you've even set your eyes on your next husband. Like mother, like daughter…"

Without verbal response, but not keen to take the insult so lightly, Sigyn grabbed Loki's hand of her shoulder and knocked him back into the wall with an energy blast from her hands.

"How dare you make such claims against me," she growled. "And how dare you insult me so." Sigyn stepped back, watching as he pulled himself back up to his feet. "After everything I have endured, after everything I have done because of you, for you, in your name, all because of my love for you, and this is how you condescend to me? You liken me to my mother!"

Another energy blast from her hands knocked him down again before he was completely upright. He was lithe like a cat, however, and back on his feet in no time. Tears stung both of their eyes as they stared at each other from opposite sides of the small room. Both their fists were clenching and unclenching; their breaths struggled to find a steady rhythm and their nostrils flared slightly for good measure.

"I am plenty aware of what you have endured. How could I forget when it is constantly brought to my attention as if I could have prevented the past I was not a part of. I told you more than once that had I known and been able to get to you, I would have without a second thought. Do not throw that in my face." He grabbed her left wrist and held on tightly despite the energy pulsing between their respective skins. "Anything you did for me or because of me you did of your own free will. I did not twist your arm or force you into submission," he hissed.

"I did it out of love," she clarified.

"I know."

"Then why would you condescend to me?"

"Because you were not going to tell me about your miscarriage!" he shouted in her face. "You were not going to tell me about your injury. You were going to lie to me and pretend everything is fine." Loki gestured wide and big. "Does it look as if everything is fine? I am locked away in this forsaken place, away from you, for the rest of my days. All I get is the rare update from my mother, telling me you are fine but, clearly, you are not fine and either she is unaware of what has really happened with you or she has been lying to my face as well. Why? Why am I being lied to?"

" _Because_ everything is not fine," Sigyn repeated. "I would not have you worry or upset when you are already living this way. I would rather you be blissfully unaware of my minor personal tragedies so that you may live in this _forsaken_ place without any further bitterness."

"That was not your decision to make."

"And yet I made it, and I would make it again, because it was the one kind thing I could do for you while separated from you; for you to live without worry when there is nothing you could do to change a thing anyway."

"And, _again_ , that was _not_ your decision to make!" He was wide-eyed and aggravated. "Any news of you would be good news, even the bad. Do not mortal vows specifically state 'for better and for worse'. Is that not what we agreed to as well? When you became my wife, and I your husband, I am fairly certain that was implied."

The two of them moved closely toward each other, their faces inches apart. He stared down his nose at her and she stared back.

"You want to hear all about the wrenching pain and the blood loss that caused me to suffer bouts of unconsciousness; how I lost a child I had no idea I was carrying because of injuries sustained from those damned Avengers?" she questioned, disparagingly. "You want to hear about the searing pain of a poisoned arrow, set on fire, lodging itself into my shoulder and weakening me on the spot, making me feel like an idiot for pushing Hogun out of the way. I could've stayed where I was and let him die, but I didn't. Maybe if I had, I would have nothing of importance to _hide_ from you."

"Accept the miscarriage."

Sigyn opened her mouth to retaliate with a response, but stopped in finding that this argument would just go 'round and 'round unless they just kissed and made up. Sighing, she tilted her head slightly to the side and just looked him in the eye. He was looking down his nose at her again, clenching his teeth and trying to calm his nerves as he studied the curve of her lips and the dark look to her eyes. The energy pulsing between them started to change in dynamic; from anger to desire as they both seemed to let the argument roll off their backs like water.

Without realizing it, their faces were nearing closer to one another, as were their bodies. A heat was building between them and every inch of their skin seemed to be tingling. Loki's shoulders began to sway as he moved in like a large snaking slithering around and sizing up its next meal.

"You know what?" Sigyn spoke as their noses almost brushed.

"Hmm?"

"We have slightly less than three hours to try again for another child."

A smile began to appear in Loki's eyes as his fingers danced along her hips. "I'd say that is a decent amount of time to try, try and try again."

"Better to make love and not war," Sigyn snickered.

Loki grinned mischievously in response as he abruptly swept her up in his arms and tossed her gracefully onto the bed. He climbed down onto the bed as well; one leg kneeling between hers while the other was still planted on the floor. Bracing his hands on either side of her shoulders, he watched as she snaked her hands up to his chest.

"No," she muttered.

"No?" he repeated, confused.

She pushed him off her and sat up to force him to sit back on the bed so she could climb up onto his lap. Sigyn claimed his lips with hers. Loki grinned again, liking where she was going with things. They wrapped their arms around each other, as if they couldn't get close enough to one another.

"How attached to this dress are you?" he asked in between kisses.

"Well, I made it myself just for you."

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, my love, the dress does not suit you. It is simple and poorly made. No offense," he added with a smirk.

"None taken," she assured. "I know I am no seamstress."

"For a first try, though, it is very lovely. But you deserve only the finest. You deserve dresses becoming of a queen, not her handmaiden. Therefore, do not hate me for doing this," he commented, only seconds before reaching around behind her and ripping the dress off her back and pulling it down her shoulders. Thread frayed at the torn seams as the dress now pooled around her waist. "Oh, that is much better," he cooed.

"You brute," she glared playfully, returning the favor by grabbing the collar of his green tunic and ripping it open down the center of his chest.

They both took a moment to taken in each other's bare chests before basically attacking each other with their hands and mouths again. They shifted around, unable to get out of the rest of their clothes fast enough and, once they were, their bodies connect as easily as putting on a well-fitted pair of gloves.

The mood from their argument wasn't completely dissipated, so they let that residual anger flow through their movements together, which were rough and quick. Hair was pulled, nails scratched backs, lips were bit and limbs were grabbed tightly. Their voices rang out in a cacophony of grunts, shouts, sighs and cries until they reached their limit and collapsed back onto the bed, which looked as if it were about to collapse as well.

Either they were that rough or beds weren't made like they used to be made.

All of that lasted no more than five minutes, as they lay there, huddled together and staring up at the stone ceiling of the cell.

"Heimdall sees all, and if he was peeking to make sure we weren't up to anything untoward, then he certainly just got an eyeful," Sigyn remarked with a smirk, running her fingers gingerly up and down Loki's abdomen.

"I am fairly certain what transpired was completely untoward," Loki jested. One of his arms he had resting under his head while the other wrapped around Sigyn to keep her close.

"And we've only just started."

Sigyn's fingers danced downward until she had his manhood in hand and gripped it tight. She watched as his eyes closed while she ran her hand up and down his stiff length, building up speed. Without breaking the pace, Sigyn was able to sit up and lean forward to take him into her mouth. She dragged her tongue around the head before proceeding to bob up and down, creating the perfect suction around him that caused him to emit a guttural moan and curl his toes. His arms lifted so he could run his fingers through her hair, hold on tight and help guide her head to take him as far as she could go.

Once he came, Sigyn sat back up, listening to his moan taper out until he finally opened his eyes back up to look at her.

"Your tongue should be illegal," he sighed.

"Just my tongue?"

Loki chuckled and sat up. He gripped Sigyn's thighs with his hands and pulled her closer to him and then pushed her back on the bed. "Maybe mine, too," he retorted, lowering his face to the apex of her legs.

 

* * *

 

With fifteen minutes left of their three hour rendezvous, Loki and Sigyn lay huddled together again with the bed's solitary blanket draped over them. They had definitely made the most of their time together and worked out whatever kinks they had in that symbolic red string of fate that bound them.

"You don't know how many times I've tried to reach your mind, to talk to you. After finally joining your side on Earth and having you there with me, then not to even hear your voice echoing in mine has been pure torture," Loki commented. He turned his head and looked at her profile. "And I worry this is the only time I'll ever have with you again, or hear your voice again. I wish it could last forever."

"So do I," Sigyn concurred, curling closer into his side and resting her head on his chest.

"I never actually thought we'd get separated like this," he continued. "I supposed I really didn't think everything through."

"I'll see if there is something I can do out there," she gestured toward the cell door, referencing the outside world, "and if I can find a way to reach you from there when I cannot actually _be_ here. There has to be an explanation as to why we cannot communicate as we have before. It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe there is some sort of magical barrier between the dungeon and the outside world," Loki offered.

Sigyn shrugged. "I don't know. It has perplexed me since we were first placed down here, separate from each other."

They fell quiet for a few moments. There was no clock or anything physical to tell them what time it was, but they could both practically hear the minutes ticking by. Anxiety over their impending separation, which neither knew how long would be, was building within them. Their muscles tensed slightly, they clung to each other a little more and they were almost holding their breaths, as if making a noise would ruin the moments they had left.

Sigyn's eyes closed. She could hear Loki's hear beating in his chest and it soothed her. It was a sound she wanted to commit to memory, the rhythm, so that she could recall it at any moment when they were parted once again.

"Sigyn?"

"Hmm?"

"If this is the only time we get, until the day we die, to be together, I need you to know that I love you and I am sorry for my words and actions earlier. I was just worried," Loki remarked. "You are my priority, above everything else."

Sigyn smiled. "I am sorry I kept anything from you. I thought I was doing you a kindness."

"It's alright," he assured. "I like it better when you are just doing _me_ ," he added, teasing.

With a chuckle, Sigyn lifted her head and looked at him. "I'm sorry for tossing you into the wall. Twice."

"I deserved it." Loki sat up slightly and rolled over enough so that he could pin her back onto the bed. He positioned himself between her legs while wrapping his arms around her. "I'd say we have about ten minutes left." He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. "Should we have one more go?"

"One last hurrah?"

Loki snickered.

 

* * *

 

When their time was up and they were redressed, they sat side by side on the bed; Sigyn's hand on his lap, as he held it. They remained quiet, both looking toward the iron cell door as it eventually creaked opened, revealing the same four guards from earlier, and possibly more that went unseen at the moment.

Loki looked at Sigyn as the first guard entered in, and then a second with shackles in hand.

"It's time to go, I suppose."

Sadly, Sigyn nodded, standing with Loki as he faced the guard with the shackles and held his wrists out. The guard clamped them on and Loki just watched. Sigyn was watching his profile and could tell that, despite his attempts to make jest with the guards, he was sad and unhappy. The amusement that forced a jovial smile upon his lips never reached his eyes.

"Have you said your goodbyes?" the first guard asked. He seemed to show genuine interest and maybe even care a tiny fraction.

Loki turned to Sigyn. "We've said many goodbyes," he winked at her.

Sigyn playfully pushed him and gave him a knowing look. "Be good."

"I will certainly make an effort."

The guards began to pull Loki away but before they could make a move out the cell door, Sigyn pushed them out of the way and wrapped her arms around Loki's shoulders, hugging him tight and, at the same time, forgetting that the back of her dress was ripped all the way down toward the top off her ass and was giving the guards something interesting to look at.

Loki grabbed hold of the front of her dress since that was all he could manage with the shackles on his wrists. He claimed her lips and kissed her as deep as he could manage before the guards pulled them apart.

"Goodbye," Sigyn muttered.

Loki was pulled forward but looked over his shoulder back at her. "No," he shook his head. "Till we see each other again," he corrected.

Sigyn watched as he was removed from the cell and she was left almost alone. One of the guards hung back and lifted the blanket off the bed and then held it up to her. She turned and looked at him with a curious gaze.

"What's that for?"

"The back of your dress," he commented. "It's ripped all the way…"

Sigyn reached and arm behind her and winced, remembering how disheveled she must look. She graciously took the blanket from him and he assisted in draping it over her shoulders.

"Thank you," she spoke.

"You're welcome, milady."

She gave him a nod of her head and stepped out of the cell to the guard waiting to escort her out of the dungeon and back up to the palace. She hoisted the bottom of the blanket up so it didn't drag on the floor and looked more like a commoner's shawl, but still covered her exposed back. While walking alongside the guard, she wrapped her arms around herself, picturing them as Loki's arms, holding her close. It brought a smile to her face and she consigned herself to believing it would be enough to get her through the coming days, weeks, months and however long it would be until she could manage to see him again.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn had retired to her chambers for the rest of the evening, preferring to bathe in the afterglow of her tryst with Loki all by her lonesome. Plus, she didn't feel like seeing anyone else, likening it to some sort of walk of shame. Not that she had anything to be ashamed of, having spent time with her own husband as a wife was allowed. She lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, still smiling to herself as she turned onto her side and hugged a pillow to her chest and draped the cell blanket around her. She could still smell him on the blanket and would cherish it until the scent was gone, and probably even beyond then.

She very nearly fell asleep, being perfectly sated and content; however, a knock at her door disturbed her and stirred her to complete consciousness.

"Who is it?" Sigyn called out, flopping onto her back with her arms stretched wide.

"Your mother."

Sigyn bolted upright, staring at the backside of her door as he heart leapt into her throat. A million thoughts and feelings coursed through her mind and none of them positive.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," she muttered to herself.

 


	37. Family Reunion

* * *

 

"Sigyn?"

She was still staring at the backside of her door while her mother stood on the other side, waiting for a response or, most likely, an invite in. All the good feelings that had been surrounding every fiber of her being seemed to fly out the window; ruined by the toxic shadow in her life that had always been her mother.

"What do you want?" she finally responded.

"I thought we could talk," Freya informed, sounding apprehensive. "We have much to catch up on."

"I have nothing I want to talk to you about."

Both women fell silent and a part of Sigyn had hoped her mother had walked away.

"You have been away for so long, so much has happened during that time and so much has changed," Freya spoke back up. "We are not the same people we once were. If anything we both have more in common now."

Sigyn narrowed her eyes at the door and stood up, taking a few steps closer to it. "What exactly do we have in common now?"

"We have husbands who have commit crimes against the All-father, which we will never see again, and we have lost children."

Freya was leaning her forehead against the door with her hands bracing the doorframe on either side, waiting for her eldest daughter to say something. Before she could open her mouth to say anything else, the door abruptly swung open and Freya stumbled forward slightly as she looked up and found Sigyn standing there, holding the door with one hand and gripping the opposite side of the doorframe with the other hand.

Sigyn did not look like the type of person to be crossed in that particular moment. She was shooting daggers at her mother with her green eyes and her posture was quite queenly. For the first time in her life, Freya felt smaller than her daughter. She felt as if she should be bowing her head as she would out of respect for Frigga, her actual queen.

"Let me make one thing clear," Sigyn bit out. "Those commonalities you proclaim we have are complete and utter codswallop. My father was banished from Asgard and you couldn't give a shit, and he's been dead two centuries, whereas Loki is merely down in the dungeon and I've just come from seeing him, and every second away from him is an eternity. I have promised to love only him for all of my life, however long it may be while you so easily moved on from husband to husband. And," she continued, barely taking a breath, "we both lost children? I am alive, I am here. You can sleep easy knowing I am perfectly well. I, on the other hand, watched my son get murdered. I held him in my arms as he took his last breath and then died. I _buried_ my son and will never see him again." Sigyn stepped closer to her mother, practically towering over her because, in truth, she was slightly taller by a few inches. "We have nothing in common other than some genetics."

"I am sorry, Sigyn. I meant no offense," Freya commented, trying to look her daughter in the eye. "I am merely trying to offer some sort of olive branch to you. I am aware we did not have a good past and I was not the best mother to you, but we have a future in which we can start anew, and do you not want to know your sisters as they are now? They've missed you terribly."

"Do not guilt me into this ambush of a mother-daughter reunion by using my sisters," Sigyn remarked with a slight roll of her eyes.

"That was not my intent."

"Well, then, if you wanted to see me, you could have sent a letter or a messenger to announce your intentions first. Given our history and the fact that you have made no attempt to see me since I have returned to Asgard until now, _that_ would have been the ideal way to handle this."

"I—"

"This," Sigyn gestured between herself and her mother, "will not happen right now. Not today. I was in a good mood and would like to have it continue."

"When—" Freya tried to speak again but was, again, cut off by her daughter.

"When I am ready, I will send word ahead of time." Sigyn looked her mother in the eye, gripping both the door and the doorframe once more in preparation to end their conversation. "Can you accept this?"

With a small sigh, some hesitation, but finally a nod, Freya acquiesced. "Yes, I can accept this."

"Good," Sigyn smiled politely. "Until then, I bid you adieu."

She stared expectantly at her mother, waiting for Freya to take the hint and leave first before she shut the door as not to come off as utterly rude. It took a moment or to, but Freya nodded again and turned away. As soon as Sigyn had the back of her mother's head in her view, she shut the door quietly but firmly, and then leaned back up against it. With her left hand, without looking, she latched the door locked and then let out a sigh, mixed with frustration and relief. Doing all she could to not let her mother's unexpected visit ruin the rest of her evening and cast that long dark shadow over her, Sigyn focused her gaze upon her bed, and particularly upon the cell blanket.

With a smile of contentment, Sigyn scurried over to the bed and jumped down onto it, bouncing once before wrapping herself up in the blanket and closing her eyes. She envisioned Loki there with her again and it made the dark shadow dissipate into nothingness.

 

* * *

 

Two days after her visit with Loki and her mother's surprise visit, Sigyn was once again off-world with Thor. This time, however, she went alone with him and the trip was strictly diplomatic. There was to be no form of combat involved. Or, at least, there was none expected to be involved. Sometimes, things don't always go as planned. This particular time, however, it did, thankfully.

They were guests of Karnilla, queen of Nornheim, and were there to ally themselves with her against the Rock Troll trio of brothers – Ulik, Olik and Horth – who wished to either lay claim or lay waste to Karnilla's kingdom and her absolute monarchy. Karnilla wasn't always the easiest person to deal with but, in choosing sides that would better lead to peace, she was the only option. Rock Trolls were just brutes who could rarely, if ever, be reasoned with.

Sitting at a banquet table during a feast to honor their pact to join forces against the Rock Trolls, Thor and Sigyn sat side by side, with Thor at Karnilla's immediate right. They ate, they drank and they jested with the rest of Karnilla's court, but only Thor seemed to have his heart in it all. Sigyn could care less if Nornheim fell to the Rock Trolls. It was once their world anyway before they were banished to Vanaheim. They had just as much of a claim to the world as Karnilla and her subjects did. Plus, Sigyn's mind was elsewhere anyway.

She was still thinking about Loki; occasionally caught up in a daydream about the few hours they had together. She also had her mother on her mind, like a terrible song stuck on repeat.

"You seem worlds away, cousin," Thor spoke quietly while Karnilla was busy conversing with others at the table.

Sigyn snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Thor while taking a sip of the terrible wine they were being served. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Loki?"

She nodded briefly. "And my mother."

"I did here she showed up unannounced," he spoke, taking a sip of his own wine. "That must have been awkward for you."

"You have no idea."

"What did she want?"

"To see me and catch up on each other's lives, apparently, and maybe braid each other's hair for all I know." Sigyn sighed. "I could see she was being genuine, or trying to, but a part of me felt she had this ulterior motive. She and I never saw eye to eye in my youth and I have not missed her all these centuries. It sounds terrible to say, but I just have no desire to make up for lost time with her. But then she went and mentioned my sisters and how they have missed me and it made me feel a little guilty. But why now? Why does she visit now? She made no attempts that I know of when I first returned to Asgard or while I've been roving around with you and the others."

"It might have something to do with your youngest sister being betrothed."

Sigyn turned and stared directly at her cousin. "Gersemi?"

"Unless I've mixed them up, yes; I do believe Gersemi is your younger sister."

"No, yes, she is. I am just surprised." Sigyn sat back slightly. "I know it is a two-way street. I have not made an attempt to see any of them either. In my head they are still just children who stood barely higher than my waist."

"The last time I saw them was at my failed coronation ceremony a few years ago and, from what I remember, they have are beautiful young women now; certainly your mother's daughters." Upon seeing Sigyn indifferent smirk, he added, "Though not as beautiful enough to outshine their eldest sister."

Sigyn flashed Thor a withering look, paired with an amused smile. "Ah, flattery; something you have in common with Loki. Neither of you got that from Odin, that's for sure." She brought her wine glass to her lips to hide her widening smile. "Must be Frigga's handy work."

"Aye," Thor agreed, holding up his own glass and giving a nod of his head. "Admittedly, my father is not one for flattery. When you are king, I suppose it is not needed." After a few moments of silence between them while Karnilla was still catering to the other guests at her table, Thor eyed his cousin once more. "Will you be seeing your sisters soon then?"

"I suppose I should," Sigyn replied. "After all, I never had any qualms with them in the past. They were but children and I loved them dearly, and they looked up to me; Gersemi, especially. And she was my favorite, if I had to pick. Hnoss was a bit more like our mother, which did not play in her favor, in my opinion. No offense to her, of course." She then looked Thor in the eye with a curious gaze. "Is Hnoss married?"

"Uh…no. I do not believe she is."

Sigyn chuckled.

"What?" Thor wondered. "Why do you laugh at that?"

"If Hnoss grew up to be anything like my mother, Hnoss will not be pleased that her younger sister is marrying before her. I just find that amusing is all." Sigyn allowed her smile to be seen in its entirety as she set her wine glass down and faced Thor. "I really need to see my sisters now. It'll give me something new to occupy my time with, if anything."

"On the subject of your time," Thor began; segueing into another conversation. "How did your visit with my brother go?"

Sigyn's amusement faded slightly. "It was nearly perfect after him and I stopped arguing."

"You were arguing? Why, I wonder?"

She narrowed her gaze and studied Thor's face. "Something to do with him somehow learning about my miscarriage and my injury from that arrow," she responded. "Your father would obviously not be talking to Loki, and your mother agreed with me in never telling him those details. The only other person with access to see Loki with that knowledge is you."

Thor picked at the food in front of him and instantly looked guilty of the crime Sigyn was wordlessly accusing him of. "I have been to see Loki recently, before you did, but I did it on your behalf because I worried for you. I wished for Loki to release his hold on you so you can start a new life away from him." Seeing the way she was starting to angrily glare at him, he quickly worked to make amends. "I see now there is no hope of that. Seeing how happy you seem after your visit, I suppose I was wrong. Loki is, for reasons that baffle my mind, good for you and your well-being, and your well-being is important to me."

"Did you really think a simple plea would break our bond? You are skilled in battle and in diplomacy, but you are inefficiently equipped where matters of the heart are concerned."

"I would not go that far," Thor insisted. "Your and Loki's hearts, maybe."

Sigyn gave him a withering look. "You think claim you want the best for me, but you do not even know what is best for you." She could see how Thor seemed intrigued and confused by what she meant. "Case in point," she muttered to herself.

"So…" Thor lifted his wine glass again. "Your baby sister is getting married. That is something."

"How about we agree to not speak on our personal lives for a while, shall we?" Sigyn waited until he met her eye and he nodded.

Thor gave a sigh of relief, as if he was a child who had just been given permission to go play with his toys after being stuck with boring schoolwork. "I can live with that."

"What are you two on about?" Karnilla inquired, leaning forward to look around Thor at Sigyn, and then back to Thor.

"My youngest sister is getting married," Sigyn offered.

"Oh, I _do_ love a wedding."

Sigyn beamed charmingly. "Who doesn't?"

Thor looked at her and winked. This was why she came with him. She had a talent for charm that rivaled Loki's, with the added benefit of being available for occasions such as this, instead of being locked away. While there were moments of doubt, of just how much Thor still felt he could trust Sigyn, there was no denying she played a vital part in court and as an emissary of Asgard. Outside kingdoms and realms were aware by now of what Loki had done and where he was, and that he was not a son, by blood, of Odin and Frigga. Sigyn was a different story, however. She would learn over the coming months that there was a decent faction of the Asgardian population and even those they dealt with in other realms that had disagreed with Odin's decision to banish her so long ago, and that she shouldn't have even been imprisoned at all.

It seemed Sigyn had allies she never knew about, and allies of hers meant allies for Loki and allies Sigyn was able to secure for Loki, whether intentional or not, meant Thor's doubt and trust issues were not without warrant.

 

* * *

 

In the days following her trip to Nornheim, Sigyn had written to her mother, deciding she would indeed meet with Freya, Hnoss and Gersemi and, in the meantime, wished to extend her congratulations to Gersemi on the news of her engagement. She made sure she was looking her best on the day she was to see them all. She wore a fine dress of green silk with a green chiffon overlay done up with gold accents and a bronzed chest plate, which she had grown accustomed to wearing outside the palace walls, as a request made by Odin. In the times they were living in, the safety and well-being of the royal family was high on his list, the All-father claimed.

Sigyn didn't mind, especially this day, because it gave her more of an imposing look; a look of importance. The final touch was her hair and jewelry. With a touch of rouge to her lips as well, Sigyn was ready to leave.

A skiff arrived to transport her to her mother's home. Taking a horse-led carriage would've taken too long. She sat in the back while the boatman steered. She watched the scenery as it flew by and down at the reflection of the skiff's underside on the water's surface below. Wind caused by the speed with which they traveled caused her hair to flap behind her.

Instead of focusing on the impending meeting with her mother and sisters, all she could think about was a time, so long ago, when Loki and she swam across that lake in their youth, splashing each other and laughing, and how they made it to the waterfall and the cavern behind the watery curtain.

"We've arrived, milady."

Sigyn shook away the memory at the sound of the boatman speaking to her. She turned her head and found they were docked at the edge of her mother's property, which bordered one of the many waterways. It was the opposite side of the home from where her girlhood bedchamber had been located; the side without a view of the palace in the distance.

One of the footman under her mother's employ approached with a stepstool so it would be easier for Sigyn to step out of the skiff and to the ground beneath. She gave a nod of her head to the boatman and then took the hand of the footman that was offered to her. Holding up the hem of her dress with her free hand, Sigyn climbed out of the skiff with the grace of a cat.

Once her feet touched ground, she walked off ahead of the footman and approached the front entrance to the estate, as the doors were opened automatically for her. Stepping inside, she was met with the opulence of the grand hall where she once watched her father being taken away by several Einherjar. She cast her eyes up the large staircase and over to the left to the second floor balustrade where she had stood so many times, watching guests arrive without bothering to go down and greet them alongside her mother. So many memories here, but very few were good. She was only happiest away from this home; away from her mother and alongside Loki.

That hadn't changed in her thousand plus years of life.

"Sigyn?" she heard her named called by a slightly unfamiliar voice.

She turned her head back up to the second story balustrade to her left and saw a young woman with white blonde hair, even fairer than her mother and exceptionally petite for an Asgardian, looking back at her with a nervous smile and warm, blue eyes. Hair, eye color and petiteness aside, the young woman looked surprisingly a lot like Sigyn.

Allowing a genuine smile of her own to spread across her lips and into her eyes, Sigyn stepped forward. She grabbed onto the volute with her right hand and slowly stepping up onto the first step of the staircase. "Yes," she spoke. She inclined her head. "Gersemi?"

The young woman nodded and smiled brighter. "Yes."

Unable to contain her excitement any further, Gersemi dashed away from the balustrade and down the stairs to the landing, and then stopped momentarily to pick up the hem of her dress so she didn't fall the rest of the way. She joined Sigyn halfway between the landing and the first step and both just stood there for a few seconds before Gersemi reached forward and practically threw herself at her eldest sister in a tight embrace. She rested her chin on Sigyn's shoulder and let out a happy sigh.

"I am so unbelievably happy to see you," Gersemi cried. "I missed you terribly."

"I missed you, too," Sigyn replied, running her hands soothingly over her baby sister's back as she reciprocated the hug.

"I cried myself to sleep for weeks after I found out you had been banished. I didn't want to believe I would never see you again. It was so depressing." Gersemi pulled back and both sisters looked each other in the eye. "But I never gave up hope, and here you are. You're home."

"I am."

Gersemi continued to beam as brightly as one of the brightest stars in all of space which, in turn, warmed Sigyn's heart and made her smile even more as well. "I cannot express how happy I am that you are finally here. I know I was just a child who barely stood taller than your waist then, but I felt closer to you than I ever had to mother or Hnoss. Losing you was like losing a part of myself."

Sigyn frowned. She had not realized anyone aside from Loki would be truly affected by her leaving and being banished. "I am so sorry you felt lost in any way. When I left, I had no idea I would not be able to return."

Gersemi linked her arm through Sigyn's and led her off the staircase and round to the main hallway off to the left, which led to the main living spaces of the home. "You do not need to apologize to me. I learned only recently what happened to you on Midgard. If anything, I feel I should be apologizing to you out of condolence." The youngest sister glanced up at the eldest sister's profile as they walked. "You suffered many great losses there; your son, your father and, no doubt, many human friends. Having to love and care for so many people and watch them leave you in such sad and tragic ways is something no good person should have to experience, and yet here you are, clearly grown stronger because of it. It is commendable and I strive to be as resilient as you."

Sigyn couldn't help but smirk, albeit sadly. "I am not a good person. I have done many a bad thing."

"Well, no one is perfect." Gersemi gave Sigyn a nudge in the shoulder, which caused the elder sister to peer at the younger out the corner of her eye and shake her head with a chuckle. "I do not care what you may have done in your past, amidst dire circumstances, I just care that you are well, safe, happy and, more importantly, home. Are you all four of those?"

"I am well, I am safe and, while I am literally home, on Asgard, I do not, admittedly, feel at home anywhere," Sigyn remarked quietly. "This house never felt like home after my father's banishment, and even less so now. The palace is where I reside now, but I feel at times that it is just a very nice prison cell." She saw the way Gersemi frowned sadly at her. "Without Loki, I cannot be completely home or completely happy. But I can pretend I am."

Gersemi hugged Sigyn's arm tight. "I will do whatever I can to make your days happier."

Sigyn smiled appreciatively. "You must come visit me at the palace. I would enjoy your company, plus you have much to tell me of whomever it is that shall be marrying you. What is his name, who is his family and, _more importantly_ ," she mimicked, "Is he a good man and worthy of you?"

Biting her lip, Gersemi practically skipped as she dropped her arm and took Sigyn's hand in hers and then turned so that they were facing each other. "His name is Ulyn, he is an Einherjar guard, so you have probably seen him, but of course you would not have known who he was. He has light brown hair, blue eyes; he is strong and kind and makes me laugh. Oh, and he is a good dancer."

Sigyn watched her sister's face light up like a million suns and remembered that feeling of new love, when she, herself, finally realized how much she loved Loki. "Being a good dancer; that is very important," she teased.

Gersemi didn't register if Sigyn was teasing or not, as she simply continued talking. "His father was a guard before him and his mother was a Valkyrie who fought alongside mother so very long ago, and both are very wonderful people. I cannot wait to be part of their family as well."

"But, is he worthy of you?"

Gersemi nodded, growing somewhat serious. "Yes, he most certainly is."

"Well, that is all I need to know," Sigyn remarked. "However, if this Ulyn ever does anything to hurt you in any way, shape or form, I will not hesitate to disembowel him and burn his entrails."

Her eyes going wide, Gersemi then laughed Sigyn's promise off, only half positive that her big sister was joking. The other half wasn't. She had heard what Loki had done on Midgard, and that Sigyn had been right beside him. Rumors had found their way to her ears and she had heard the whisperings of what Sigyn had done to the family whose son had murdered Sigyn's son. Gersemi was well aware that her eldest sister wasn't one to be trifled with when push came to shove, that she could be a force to be reckoned with, and there was no one else Gersemi would rather have in her corner.

As the sisters walked along, eventually making their way toward the solarium, they found their mother and other sister Hnoss, lounging among many beautiful plants, sipping some form of wine and nibbling on finger foods.

It was very un-Asgardian, in Sigyn's eyes.

Typically there would be a larger array of fruits and meats laid out while the family lounged. They were Asgardians, after all, and their appetites trumped those of humans at every turn. Larger portions were commonplace.

Freya looked up as her eldest and youngest children entered the room, and she immediately arose to her feet, grinning from ear to ear. "Ah, you made it," she announced, walking up to Sigyn, placing her hands on Sigyn's shoulder and placing a kiss on her cheek. When Sigyn tensed up, Freya leaned back and released her grip, inspecting her daughter's facial expression in order to see which way she should tread next. "I assume Gersemi and you have been catching up?"

"We have," Gersemi spoke up, with a small nod.

Sigyn turned and looked down at her sister, and how she tensed up as well, but in a different way.

Growing up, Sigyn had always butted heads with her mother; she was defiant and it was very hard for her to yield to her mother's wishes and commands. The older she got, the harder it was for Freya to rein control over her daughter until, at some point, Freya just washed her hands of Sigyn and let her go her own way, seemingly without a second thought. Gersemi, however, seemed ever mindful of their mother's presence and considerably intimidated. It was understandable on several levels. Gersemi was the youngest, which meant she was to always to as everyone older than her said. Some babies of the family were the unruly ones; the ones who rebelled and were forgiven any trespass simply because they were young and adorable and reminded the older members of the family how it once was. Gersemi was not one of those babies of the family.

Sigyn finally looked over at Hnoss, who remained seated, and rather casual, as she ate a strawberry and sized Sigyn up. The middle sister had lived in this house for so long as the oldest sister with Sigyn gone and she had clearly grown very accustomed to the position. There was an air of self-importance and a dominant spirit in Hnoss, simply by the way she sat there, and the way she stared and carried herself. She was, in Sigyn's best estimate, definitely just like their mother. In Hnoss, Freya had found a daughter to mold after her likeness and Hnoss had taken to the "molding" like a fish to water.

Brandishing an impish smirk, Sigyn stepped closer to the elder of her younger sisters. She placed her hands on her hips, kept her back straight and stood with her legs apart slightly, asserting a position of dominance.

She had sensed it long ago, that Hnoss would be like their mother, and that she was not as fond of her as she was of Gersemi. Centuries later, and that had not changed. If anything, that opinion had increased exponentially just in these moments alone.

"Hello, Hnoss," Sigyn greeted first.

"Hello, Sigyn."

"Are you looking forward to Gersemi's wedding?"

"I am positively tickled." The smile Hnoss wore was pleasant, but strained. She was lying.

"Is marriage in your future?"

"I would like to hope so," Freya piped in, moving to stand behind Gersemi and place her hands on her shoulders. "Right now, we must focus on this one. I didn't get to throw an actual wedding for Sigyn, and I expected Hnoss might be first for me, but this will be fun nevertheless."

It felt like there were three passive insults made at each of her daughters in that last sentence alone. Each of the three threw sidelong glances at their mother and then looked between each other.

Trying the change the subject, Hnoss addressed Sigyn, "How was the dungeon?" The look on her face was almost combative. She was trying to reassert her position as the eldest sibling and was clearly not overly fond of Sigyn returning to claim her rightful place within their family.

Sigyn, in truth, didn't actually care about her place in the family. She was only acting as such because she got amusement out of how it seemed to irk Hnoss.

"It was a lot nicer than some places I lived on Midgard," she responded easily. "How has life been in this house for the last eight and half centuries?"

"Pleasant."

It was a simple response which Sigyn chose not to read in between the lines of. Perhaps it was a genuine response and it had been a wonderful many centuries, or maybe it had been strenuous and Hnoss hadn't truly enjoyed her the years. Maybe life for Hnoss had actually been as exasperating as it had been for Sigyn, but Hnoss had learned to play their mother's game in order to not go mad. Maybe Hnoss was the type of person Sigyn would have become had she never married Loki and never left to find her father on Midgard.

With that line of thought, Sigyn actually felt empathy for Hnoss.

"So, who wants to see me in my dress?"

Gersemi's voice cutting through the air was like a warm breeze and very welcomed. Sigyn turned her attention away from Hnoss to focus on their younger sister.

"You already have it made?"

"Well, it was mother's first wedding dress, actually. She asked me if I wanted to wear it, and it is so beautiful, I could not pass it up."

Sigyn glanced at their mother and both shared a look; Sigyn's was perceptive and Freya's was nearly apologetic. They both knew all too well how Freya had once offered the dress to Sigyn to wear when she was originally supposed to marry Theoric before his untimely death. There had been now remarkable wedding gown when she married Loki; she had simply worn the dress she had already been wearing that day which, sadly, Sigyn could no longer remember what it looked like. She would never have a big wedding of her own and quite possibly she would never have children of her own who would ever get married either, so watching her baby sister have this moment in her life would be the next best thing, she supposed.

"I have no doubt you will look marvelous in it," Sigyn commented. "The most beautiful bride to come out of this family."

Gersemi beamed at Sigyn, Freya smiled approvingly as well, and Hnoss continued to feign joy. Sigyn looked all around at the three women and sighed inwardly; wondering what in the hell she was getting herself involved in.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn had stayed for dinner that evening, and well into the night, mostly spending her time chatting with Gersemi. She got to see her old bed chamber, which looked the same as it did the day she left Asgard all those centuries ago. Nothing had changed, though it was a bit dusty. The maids probably weren't delegated to this particular room of the estate as often since it was never used. Sigyn wondered if her mother had left it alone, in hopes that she would return to it someday. If that was truly the case, Sigyn felt some warmth toward her mother. She had noticed her mother seemed a bit changed in her demeanor. She wasn't the apathetic harpy of a mother she had once been in Sigyn's eyes. Freya seemed to have mellowed and grown softer around the edges in her waning years. The family matriarch didn't seem as disparaging of her younger daughters as she had been with Sigyn, and for that Sigyn was happy; mostly for Gersemi's sake.

Gersemi was too sweet to have to deal with the kind of mother Freya had been to Sigyn. Gersemi deserved the mother Freya was now.

In the weeks following their family reunion of sorts, Sigyn often received Gersemi at the palace as her guest. They would take walks together around the palace grounds and throughout the city, even. Gersemi was asked to stay for dinner most of those times by Frigga; the former incredibly excited to be dining in private with the royal family.

Despite the fact that Sigyn and Gersemi were sisters, Gersemi had no blood relation to the All-father, his queen or his son. Aside from Sigyn, Gersemi's only other connection to them was that her mother was once married to Odin's brother, who happened to be Sigyn's father.

A month after their reunion, Sigyn and Gersemi were taking a walk beyond the palace grounds, where they came upon the lake Sigyn, Loki, Thor and the others had frequented many a time in their youth. Sigyn smiled at all the memories and led her and her sister further toward the water's edge.

"I've never been here," Gersemi remarked. "What is this place?"

"Just a place I spent many happy times as a girl."

Gersemi studied Sigyn's reminiscent smile. "With Loki?"

Sigyn nodded. "With Loki, yes, but also with plenty others."

"Who?"

"Thor, Sif, Fandral, Gudrun…" She pointed out at the water. "We would swim for hours, splashing and having many laughs. We held bonfires here on the shore, drank wine or mead and ate food that Thor and Loki underhandedly procured from the palace kitchen." She chuckled slightly at the images in her head from one of those times where she was waiting with the others while Thor and Loki came running down the hill to the clearing with basketfuls of food and bottles of liquor, looking as if they had just pulled off the biggest heist in entire universe. Next, Sigyn pointed to some bushes to their right. "Over there is where I found my clothes after I had gone for a swim with Loki. He had stolen them from me as a joke and Fandral came to my rescue and offered me his tunic to wear until I returned home and could procure something more appropriate."

"Really?" Gersemi seemed amused.

"It was all in good fun, of course. I knew Loki never meant any harm in it. He always loved his pranks."

"Isn't he the one responsible for Lady Sif's hair changing colors? I heard she used to have hair as golden as sunlight."

Sigyn nodded again. "She did, once upon a time, and then Loki cut it while she slept. But he got new hair for her, made by dwarves. But it was reattached before the dwarves could properly enchant, and so her hair went completely dark." Sigyn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Mercy me; Sif was incredibly vain back then. She was always so concerned by her looks, which was why her parents sent her away to be trained as a shield maiden."

"Why did mother send you away for training?"

"Because I wouldn't fall in line with her every whim and follow the path she had laid out for me. She wanted to mold me after her and I wouldn't allow it. We never saw eye to eye, more so after my father was banished. I could barely stand to be in a room with her." Sigyn looked at Gersemi and shrugged. "As harsh as it may be to hear, I have loathed our mother for most of my life. There are only three periods of my life where I have found myself truly caring about her; when I was very young and ignorant to her demeanor, when I was betrothed to Theoric and she treated me with the most motherly affection I can only recall, and within this last month."

"That sounds so sad," Gersemi commented. "I do not mean it as an insult, Sigyn, but your life sounds so sad. Your father was banished, you felt unloved by our mother, you were sent away to train as a shield maiden, the man you were supposed to marry was killed the day you were to be married, you married Loki only to be banished shortly after when you left Asgard to find your father, your son was killed, your father died, and you lived alone for so long. And now, you live apart from Loki because he is imprisoned for life in the dungeon. You'll never have a normal married life, where you get to live happily ever after in your own home with children underfoot."

"Believe me, I know." Tears stung Sigyn's eyes and Gersemi immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry." Gersemi dropped her hand. "As I said, I didn't mean it as insult. I am just making a point that your life has been sad and you do not deserve a sad life. I wish for you the same happiness I hope to have upon marrying Ulyn. I wish for there to be some way for you to be with Loki again, despite everything he's done, and for you to be a mother again."

Potential tears drying up and giving way to a smile on her lips, Sigyn reached out and placed a hand on her baby sister's shoulders. "I always knew there was a reason why you are my favorite sister; you are too sweet for your own good."

Gersemi grinned brightly and shrugged. "You flatter me."

"I am merely stating the truth." Looking straight ahead, Sigyn gestured to the waterfall that cascading down the large cliff on the opposite side of the lake. "Did you know there is a cavern behind that waterfall?"

"Is that the same cavern that is supposed to be haunted my cursed goblins?"

Sigyn scoffed with amusement. "Hardly." She leaned forward and pulled off her shoes and then reached around behind her to untie laces of her dress. "It's a very special cavern and I want to show you."

Gersemi followed suit in undoing her own dress and taking off her shoes. They placed their clothes under some brush and then waded out into the water, wearing only their chemises. Sigyn went first, diving forward into the cool water and swam in the direction of the waterfall. The closer they got, mist began to spray upon their faces. It had been a very, very long time, but Sigyn was able to remember which large rocks at the base of the waterfall needed to be climbed. She gripped the rocks with her hands and feet and pulled herself quickly enough to duck behind the watery curtain. She turned and offered Gersemi her hand, pulling her sister inside as well.

"It's dark in there."

"There is an easy solution for that." As Loki had once before, Sigyn was now able to conjure a ball of green energy in her hand, which acted as a light source for them. "Ta-da."

Gersemi nearly jumped but then clamped her hands together with excitement. She had never really been witness to much, if any, magic in all her years. This was a magical moment for her, no pun intended.

Sigyn was able to recall the way to the cavern with no problem at all. She didn't even need the light, to be honest. It was one more thing that was like riding a bike. After about fifty or so yards, she disappeared the orb as they were greeted with the entrance to the large cavern room which was bright enough from the light filtering in through the hole in the canopy of vines and leaves that surround the cavern ceiling. Side by side, the sisters stepped further into the cavern room. To the left was the fire pit which hadn't been alight in centuries most likely. There was the small boulder which had acted as an altar when Loki and she had married. There were obvious changes, though.

Someone had been here in the last five to ten years.

Loki, Sigyn assumed with a feeling of warmth running through her heart.

There was a new blanket and grouping of pillows over the makeshift floor bed. There were a few abandoned bottles of wine scattered nearby on the ground. On the wall, a few feet away, were etchings that hadn't been there the night she married Loki. It looked like equations almost, as if Loki had been trying to work something out. Whether or not he had found the solution, she was unsure.

Sigyn watched as her sister walked up to that very way and traced her fingers along the grooves of the words and drawings while leaning back enough to read at the same time.

"On this day I married my best friend. She is the light in the darkness and the beating of my heart. She is my forever," Gersemi read aloud. She turned her head to look back at Sigyn. "This is beautiful. Who wrote it?"

Placing a hand over her heart, and then curling her fingers around the top of her wet chemise, Sigyn stepped forward with happy tears in her eyes. She reached out with her other hand and placed her fingers over the same words Gersemi had spoken. "Loki, I assume, the day we were married. I don't remember this being here during our ceremony, though," she replied. "He must have returned later that day, by himself."

"This is where you were married?"

Sigyn could feel her sister's eyes on her as she nodded in response. She gestured to the small boulder which had been their makeshift altar was. "Right over there. We said our vows together, just the two of us."

"With no witnesses?"

"Oh," Sigyn chuckled. "I'm sure Heimdall witnessed enough."

"I think Loki _did_ write this," Gersemi continued in her inspection. She pointed at the names of Loki and Sigyn etched into the stone wall in runes with the infinity symbol underneath. "He put your names, but I do not know that symbol."

"It's a symbol for infinity. It means we are forever."

Gersemi turned around and began to walk out into the open of the cavernous room while Sigyn remained at the wall, looking over every detail. "I never knew Loki was such a romantic person," Gersemi spoke. "I never actually spoke directly to him, one on one before. I only ever really saw him from a distance or in passing. He was always polite, though. The last time I saw him was at Thor's coronation, or what was supposed to be Thor's coronation. He escorted Frigga into the Throne Room before Thor entered."

Sigyn was listening to her sister speaking, but she was still very focused on the wall etchings, and other memories of her youth on Asgard alongside Loki.

"There was this one time, not long after your banishment, when Loki came to our home to see mother. He was down in the entrance hall and mother greeted him there, the same as I did for you. Hnoss and I were watching as we hid in the shadows of the gallery above. He told her that you had been banished, so that's how we all found out. I remember mother making some comment about her not being surprised, that you had dug your own grave. Loki got so angry with her. He shouted at her, he got in her face and called her out for being so callous toward you for all those years; how she was unworthy of being your mother."

Sigyn turned to face Gersemi then; her interest finally pulled away from the wall. "Did he really?"

Gersemi nodded nonchalantly, running her hand over what had been the marriage altar many a moon ago. "He did," she confirmed. "I cannot remember mother ever being so speechless." Gersemi smirked and pushed some of her wet hair off her shoulders. "He promised mother that he would get you back someday and, when he did, she would still never see you again; that you and him would live an amazing life together in the palace, have several children and she would know none of them. Should he ever get you back, mother would not be received at court."

Sigyn did her best to hide her proud smile as she joined her sister at the small boulder. "What happened after that?"

"Nothing much that I can remember," Gersemi replied. "He walked out and he never came back to our home ever again. I do not even think he has ever uttered a single word to mother since that day." She studied Sigyn's face and followed her older sister's gaze to the empty bowl and long-forgotten, unlit candles atop the boulder. "Sigyn?"

"Hmm?"

"If mother had not gone to you and you had not learned I was to be married, would you have come to us? If we hadn't reached out first, would you have reached out at all?"

Sigyn looked up into her sister's eyes and pursed her lips together. She had two options: she could lie or she could tell the truth.

She chose, instead, to _bend_ the truth.

"I would have looked into what was happening with yours and Hnoss' lives, but I would've only sought you out."

She couldn't tell Gersemi, whom she _did_ love dearly, that she would've been content never knowing or seeing them. It was too harsh a reality that a sweet and gentle soul like Gersemi didn't deserve to known. Since they were back in each other's lives now, though, Sigyn couldn't imagine not having Gersemi around anymore.

"Even before I went to Midgard to find my father, I cherished you far more than either Hnoss or mother combined. Hnoss is, unfortunately, too much like mother and therefore I have little affection for her. I know it may sound cruel, but it is the truth. I always thought Hnoss was a real piece of work, even as a child." Sigyn lifted a hand and placed it against the side of Gersemi's face. "You were different. You were always sweet and gentle and so very loveable. There was nothing to dislike about you, and there still isn't."

Gersemi smiled. "I am glad you came home to us, either way." She gestured to the cavern room. "And I am glad you brought me here. I can tell it is a very special and private place and I am honored you wanted to show it to me."

"I cannot think of anyone else – Loki aside – that I would want to bring here."


	38. Dark and Dangerous

* * *

 

It had now been three months since Sigyn had been able to see Loki, two months since she had taken Gersemi to the cavern behind the waterfall and, in a month's time, it would be one year since she had returned to Asgard with Loki. He had spent nearly a full year down in the dungeon and there wasn't a day that passed wherein Sigyn did not feel guilty about being able to freely walk around throughout the city and enjoys the finer things in life. Though, it was not as if she was wiling away the days in the lap of luxury. She spent a good portion of her time still alongside Thor, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three on jaunts off-realm while simultaneously assisting her mother and Gersemi with wedding preparations; the latter task being something that had been surprisingly enjoyable. She never got to do preparation like this for her own wedding to Loki. In doing so for Gersemi, Sigyn was living vicariously through her.

The wedding day had arrived and the ceremony was to take in the courtyard of Freya's home, which was quite large. Though they were not as close as they may have once been, out of respect, the former Valkyrie had extended an invite to Odin and Frigga, which of course meant Thor as well. Because Freya was friends with Sif's parents, Sif was invited. The Warriors Three were not in attendance, however. Hogun was at home on Vanaheim with his people, Freya nor did Gersemi barely know Volstagg, and Freya had never forgiven Fandral or his parents for their slight against Sigyn in disallowing their son to pursue his proposal of marriage to Sigyn.

Sigyn had daydreamed about what it would be like if Loki had been granted furlough for a day or two so he could attend the wedding with her. How she would have loved to dine and dance with him, openly, as husband and wife, among their people. Every day he spent away from her in his prison cell, her hopes of a future with him diminished and her heart ached all the more.

She would not allow herself to look disheartened on her baby sister's big day, though. Sigyn was plenty determined to put on a happy face and go through the motions if that's what it took to ensure everything went off without a hitch.

Sigyn had stayed the night in her girlhood bed chamber, so she would be available first thing in the morning to assist Gersemi in getting ready for the day, and it was incredibly odd.

It was familiar, of course, and there were plenty of memories, both good and bad, but it didn't change the fact that sleeping in her old bed and staring at the same four walls wasn't awkward. She didn't sleep very well that night; spending most of it sitting on the balcony, staring out toward the palace which glittered in even in the darkness, despite scattered firelight throughout the city and the stars above shining down. She looked down at the brush below the balcony which Loki used to hide in before the coast was clear and he could climb up to see her. They were like Romeo and Juliet without the suicide, or Tristan and Isolde without Tristan's death, long before either of those Midgardian stories had been written.

She then glanced back into the bed chamber, looking at the bed and recalling her first time of intimacy with Loki. She closed her eyes and conjured up the memory of his every touch upon her skin, every kiss and taste, the way his fingers curled in her hair. Sigyn hugged her body tight and wished it was Loki's arms and not her own.

Standing up, Sigyn placed her hands on the marble balustrade's railing and then leaned forward so that her arms stretched out along the railing on either side of her until she could rest the side of her face upon the railing as well. She closed her eyes again, listening to the faint sounds of life in the trees from birds and other small animals on the ground scampering about in the dark. There was a slight warm breeze which was fragrant with flowers that still bloomed at night. It was peaceful outside, but within Sigyn there was a turbulent storm of emotions brewing.

She had been calm and easygoing as of late, but the longer away from Loki, the more her nerves started the fray and the shorter her temper became.

She did not know if she could last another month without him and not do or say something she would regret later.

The morning of Gersemi's wedding, Sigyn powered through her personal issues and lack of sleep, which she hadn't been getting much of, even prior to her night in her mother's house. She ate a light breakfast in the solarium with her mother and sisters before they each went their separate ways to bathe. Afterward they joined together in Gersemi's bed chamber to get dressed and have their hair done by what felt like an army of handmaidens. Beyond the private rooms, downstairs and outside in the courtyard, servants set up for the ceremony, which included placing ornate vases of flowers all around, as well as flower garlands.

Freya disappeared for a few minutes, only to return with the dress she had worn when she married Sigyn's father forever and a day ago and had intended for Sigyn to wear for her wedding to Theoric. The dress had been well-preserved and was as beautiful as ever, and Gersemi looked just as beautiful once she was wearing it.

Seated at her dressing table and looking into the mirror before her, Gersemi focused on Sigyn's reflection as she stood behind her, adorning her hair with sprigs of tiny white and yellow flowers which matched the white and gold wedding dress, as well as the gold jewelry. Hnoss stood to the side, holding the veil, which was to be applied after the flowers in Gersemi's hair.

"I am so nervous," she remarked as she caught Sigyn's eyes.

"Do you love Ulyn with all your heart and without question?" Sigyn asked, her eyes returning to focus on the flowers.

"I do, more than anything."

"Then there is nothing to be nervous about," Sigyn continued. "Just keep your eyes on him the entire time, and everything else will fade away. He is all that deserves your attention today. Nothing else matters. Not your guests, not mother, not Hnoss, not me, and not even Odin."

"Oh my, I completely forgot Odin will be here."

Sigyn smirked. "Don't worry about him. He's not that scary."

"Says his niece who sees him on a daily basis," Gersemi remarked, furrowing her brow. "The All-father is a thing of legend to me. His presence is awe-inspiring and terrifying at the same time. I feel as if I may offend him if I step wrong."

Freya stepped forward and placed a hand on Gersemi's shoulders. Both Freya and Sigyn locked eyes for a moment in the mirror. "Sigyn is right. Odin is still but a man who was born into greatness," she commented. "He is not the greatest thing that has ever lived. The greatest thing for you is Ulyn right now. Ignore Odin, focus on Ulyn and how happy he will make you."

Gersemi nodded and smiled. "I'll try."

"Don't move," Sigyn spoke. "I'm almost done."

A few more moments and a few extra sprigs later, and Sigyn finished and stepped back for Hnoss to come forth with the veil and place it upon Gersemi's head. Freya presented a few hair pins to keep the veil in place and Sigyn gently slapped Hnoss' hand when it looked as if she was crushing the flowers.

"Be gentler," Sigyn warned. "You'll crush the flowers and poke Gersemi in the head with those pins."

Hnoss shot Sigyn a glaring look which was followed up by green energy crackling in Sigyn's eyes which was enough for Hnoss to temporarily back down and not say a word.

Gersemi stood up then and spun around slowly while looking back at herself in the mirror to take in every angle of her appearance with great pleasure. She seemed so genuinely beside herself with nerves and excitement.

"You made me look so beautiful," she said to all three women.

"Nonsense," Freya admonished. "You already were. We just added decoration."

Sigyn was glad to see this side of her mother. It was a side she never very little of, if at all, in her youth.

Friends of Gersemi arrived shortly thereafter. There were four of them in total, who would be joining Sigyn and Hnoss as Gersemi's bridesmaids. Sigyn had been chosen as Matron of Honor over Hnoss, which the eldest sister could tell had not gone over well with the middle sister. It just added to the list of issues between the pair. While Hnoss let it eat at her, however, Sigyn had no a care in the world how it made Hnoss feel to have been passed over.

As Matron of Honor, Sigyn went downstairs to the courtyard to see to the final touches and greet several of the guests already arriving. Odr, Hnoss and Gersemi's father, and Sigyn's first stepfather, arrived from wherever it was he was living now, and was shown upstairs to Gersemi's room, as he would be escorting her down the aisle and giving her away to Ulyn during the ceremony. Iwaldi, Sigyn's second and somewhat current stepfather arrived shortly after that. The imp had moved out of Freya's home a few centuries before, although they still retained their wedded status with each other. They apparently loved each other still, but living together eventually got tiresome and they felt it best to live apart; only to come together, pun intended and _not_ intended, when the mood seemed to strike them. Sigyn crouched down to embrace him, exchanging pleasantries as he also went up to Gersemi's room where Freya still was. Since he was still her husband, he would be escorting her down the aisle before the maids who would be preceding Gersemi.

Odin arrived last with Frigga on his arm, standing near the front, where all eyes would be on the pair and Thor, who had showed up shortly before, when attention was not focused on the bride and the groom.

Eventually, the ceremony began.

Sigyn fussed around with Gersemi's dress, making sure everything was perfect for her, when music began to play and Iwaldi walked hand in hand with Freya into the courtyard and then moved to stand across from where Odin, Frigga and Thor stood with many other guests. Gersemi's friends entered in next, each escorted by a male attendant. Hnoss followed, a saccharine smile tugging at her lips as she looked at the guests in attendance. Sigyn stood at the back of the courtyard, blocking the view of Gersemi on purpose so that everyone inside the courtyard would get the big reveal when Sigyn walked away.

Once Hnoss neared the end of the aisle with her attendant, Ulyn's brother, whom Sigyn had no idea what his name was, stepped forward and offered her his arm. She took it and began to walk down the aisle and for whatever reason Sigyn couldn't help but smirk inwardly and wonder how she had never been part of bridal party before; not before her banishment or during her time on Earth. One would assume there would've been at least one wedding. Sure, she had been there when Astrid married her second husband all those centuries ago, but only as a witness.

Sigyn broke out of her reverie long enough to glance over at Frigga who was smiling at her, as was Thor, but his smile was more like a shit-eating grin. Odin, however, simply looked bored and stalwart; basically, nothing new there.

When Gersemi was escorted inside by her father, tears formed in Sigyn's eyes. She was just so happy for her sister; that she was entering into this new phase of her life, and how beautiful she was. But there was also a part of Sigyn that felt incredibly jealous. Gersemi was not only having this beautiful wedding with her family and friends in attendance and looking forward to such a bright future with Ulyn, but she also had her father there to give her away.

Sigyn's heart was so torn with emotions.

She pursed her lips together as tears continued to brim her eyes but never fell. She could hear her heartbeat pulsing in her ears as she tried to focus on Gersemi and not on her own issues. Casting her eyes down, Sigyn was surprised to see Odin staring over at her when she looked back up. She gave a polite nod while he remained inexpressive and yet knowing. Sigyn returned her focus to the ceremony which involved a handfasting which included Gersemi and Ulyn reciting their own vows to one another.

Sigyn was caught off-guard by Gersemi's.

"On this day I marry my best friend, the man I love. You are the light in the darkness, the beating of my heart. You are my forever. I will love you and honor you before all others for all eternity. This is my vow to you."

Those words were familiar to Sigyn because those were the words they had found in the cavern two months before that Loki had written about her.

She closed her eyes, letting her mind wander back to her own wedding.

She remembered Loki tying the red string onto both their fingers; hearing him recite their vows telepathically and having her repeat them back to him the same way. She could still feel the way the wine with the drops of their blood tasted cool and warm at the same time as she drank it from the bowl he offered her. She remembered consummating their marriage on the makeshift bed on the ground, more than once. She could feel the heat of love and desire resonating off his body as he claimed her completely as his wife, as their limbs tangled together.

It had been one of the happiest moments of her life.

Sigyn opened her eyes in time to see Gersemi and Ulyn announced husband and wife before their guests and then share in a beautiful kiss. They turned and walked up the aisle, hand in hand, with the ribbon still binding their hands together. Once they had left the courtyard to await their guests in forming a receiving line, Sigyn and her escort followed after, and then Hnoss and the others. Freya, Iwaldi and Odr exited after that, and then it was up to the guests to follow suit.

The reception was being held in the dining room where several long, wooden tables were set up perpendicular to the head table where Gersemi and Ulyn would sit among their attendants. A second table was positioned behind the head table – a secondary table, if you will – for the parents of both the bride and groom, along with the guests of honor, which of course were Odin and Frigga. Thor was content to sit beside Sif, Sif's parents and the other guests.

After several toasts from Gersemi's father, Ulyn's father and brother, Sigyn stood next. It was her first time speaking in such a manner in front of so many Asgardians. It felt strange as all eyes were fixed on her.

"I remember the day Gersemi was born and holding her for the first time. I remember the first step she took and the first word she spoke. I remember her following me around, holding on to the skirts of my dresses and mimicking the way I walked. I remember her claiming she wanted to be a shield maiden like our mother and I when I first arrived back from my years of training," Sigyn spoke. "While I may not have been here for many important moments in her life, when she transitioned from an adorable little girl into a beautiful woman, and while she never become a shield maiden, I know she has achieved the highest goal any of us can ever really wish for, and that is the love of a lifetime. Gersemi," she looked at her sister while clasping her hands in front of her. "I am so proud of the woman you have become and I am so honored you have given me such an important part to play on your special day. I love you so very much. Ulyn," Sigyn turned her attention to her newfound brother-in-law. "If you hurt her, I will end you. Also, welcome to the family."

There was plenty of laughter at her warning, though a portion of that laughter was uncertain; wondering if Sigyn was teasing or if she was serious. There was hushed chatter which trailed after Sigyn's toast as she sat down. Her eyes scanned the tables of guests who murmured among themselves and occasionally stole a glance at her. She simply did her best to ignore them; turning her own attention to her chalice filled with wine.

Once the toasts were over, everyone held their cups high and congratulated to the happy couple. Then, the feast began and lasted quite a while. The food seemed never-ending and the wine and mead flowed like rivers. Cups never seemed to be empty and neither were anyone's bellies. The din of conversation grew louder, laughter wafted abundantly and musicians accompanied the joyous commotion with their instruments.

Soon, the feast was over and all that was left was plenty of dancing and merriment.

Sigyn remained seated most of the time, finding no joy in dancing if it weren't with Loki, until Thor approached her and offered his hand.

"Come, this is a happy occasion. Your sister is married and having the time of her life," he spoke, his speech somewhat slurred from the amount of mead he had already consumed. "Do not be as a lump on a log."

Sigyn rolled her eyes and gave in. She took Thor's hand and followed him to where everyone else was dancing. Off to the side, she noticed Hnoss standing with a chalice of either wine or mead, eyeing her up with disdain while surrounded by several male suitors, most likely wishing to dance with the last unwed daughter of Freya. Hnoss, however, seemed uninterested in any of them.

"I cannot wait for this wedding to be over," Sigyn remarked.

"Why say you that?"

"Because then I can go back to barely, if ever, seeing my other sister, who is growing to be a thorn in my side," she replied. "She is like a younger, pettier version of our mother. She annoys me."

"Sibling rivalry," Thor chuckled. "I know it well."

"Well, let's hope my version of it doesn't end with me winding up back in the dungeons for trying to kill her," Sigyn laughed in response.

She began to feel a little better and more festive as the night wore on. Odin and Frigga excused themselves at some point, but not before approaching Gersemi and Ulyn and wishing them the best. By morning light, the party was still raging on, and it continued into the following night, but by that point Gersemi and Ulyn had left to start their honeymoon in their new home together, which had been procured for them by Freya. When Sigyn grew tired of celebrating, she found her mother, to be polite, and bid her goodnight.

Sigyn had gone up to her old bed chamber and gathered what belongings she had brought with her and while descending the grand staircase to head out the front entrance to the estate, she was cut off by Hnoss at the bottom step, who seemed a teeny bit inebriated and looking ready for a fight.

Tired as she was, Sigyn could not be bothered by her sister and just gave her a slight not of the head as she moved to walk around her.

"What is so great about you?" Hnoss demanded.

Sigyn stopped, rolled her eyes and turned around to face her sister. "Pardon?"

"What…is so great…about _you_?" Hnoss repeated slowly. "You, who breezes back into our lives; the prodigal daughter returned. How did you manage to worm your way into Gersemi's good graces and claim the position of Maid of Honor? I was the one who grew up with her; I was the one who has been here beside her all our lives. You are no one in comparison."

Sigyn sighed; exasperated. "For starters, I am _Matron_ of Honor. It means I am married. Secondly, I didn't claim anything; I was offered. And thirdly, have you considered that perhaps the reason why Gersemi didn't ask you to be her _Maid_ of Honor is because you are a bitch?"

Hnoss' mouth dropped open. "How dare—"

"Oh, do shut up, Hnoss." Sigyn raised a hand to her sister's face. "I have watched how you act around Gersemi for the last three months and I remember how you were as a child. You are, and always have been, a bitch, and not the good kind either; the spoiled, demeaning kind."

"Takes one to know one," Hnoss retorted.

"Yes and no. Yes, I am a bitch, but it comes from the life I have led. It comes from centuries of pain and loneliness that hardens you and forces you to embrace the darkness or else be destroyed by it," she explained through gritted teeth as she moved her face closer to Hnoss'. "If you want to really know why Gersemi chose me over you, maybe it's because I look at her as my equal and not down on her like you do. As I said, I have watched how you are around her. And if that is any indication of how you have been toward Gersemi for the last eight and a half centuries, then I feel sorry for he life she has been forced to share alongside you."

Hnoss flared her nostrils and pursed her lips. "Better to live here with me than rotting on Midgard while letting my child and father die because I let humans get in the way."

Without thinking, Sigyn grabbed Hnoss by the neck and shoved her across the floor. Taking a few long strides, she was quickly standing over her sister and then crouched down, taking a handful of Hnoss' hair in her hand, forcing the younger female to look her in the eye.

"Don't you ever speak of my son or my father again, you mewling quim," Sigyn spat. "If I ever hear you have uttered their names, I will cut out your heart and eat it."

Roughly, Sigyn released her grip on Hnoss and stood back up. Just as she turned her back on the blonde, Hnoss clamored drunkenly to her feet and made a move to attack Sigyn, only for Sigyn to turn back around in time to send her sister flying into the wall with an energy blast.

"We're done here," Sigyn remarked. She turned around for the last time and mid-stride, she teleported away, leaving Hnoss there, stunned.

Sigyn had teleported back to the palace, continuing to walk without every breaking her stride. She had arrived into her bed chamber and dropped her belongings to the floor before flopping backward onto her bed and staring up at the ceiling.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there before there came a knock at her chamber door.

Letting out a sigh, Sigyn sat up on her elbows and stared at the backside of the door and called out, "Who is it?" almost expecting it to be her mother once again.

"It is Tyr, Lady Sigyn. The All-father requests your presence in his war council room at once."

Raising her eyes back toward the ceiling, Sigyn frowned. "This should be interesting," she muttered to herself.

 

* * *

 

Sigyn was escorted away from her chambers to the privacy of the war council room where she was left alone with Odin. She clasped her hands together in front of her lower abdomen and waited for him to turn and speak to her first. When he did, he laid his solitary eye upon her and looked disappointed. Then again, that was how he seemed to always look in general.

"It has come to my attention that you have acted with unnecessary cruelty this night and I must say I am very disappointed in you." Yep, there it was. "You attacked your own flesh and blood."

"This is about my altercation with Hnoss, I take it." It wasn't a question, and she wasn't denying anything either. "I do not regret it. She deserved what she got from me."

"Did she now?"

"Yes," Sigyn nodded adamantly. "She is a spoiled brat who needed to be put in her place. The things she said to me were unwarranted."

"Your sister may be somewhat of a sour apple; however, she was intoxicated. In her right mind I doubt she would have spoken so poorly to you. You had a choice to walk away and ignore her words, but you chose the path of violence. You physically attack her with your own hand and with your magic, something of which you have been suppressing until now I do believe," Odin remarked. He looked almost amused now as he walked around the large wooden table between them, the fingers of his left hand pressed down on the surface. "If the physical attacks weren't enough, you went further by threatening her life. Your own sister you would see dead should she mention the names of your father or your son. I had thought better of you."

"I would never actually follow through with such a threat, but I do not regret my choice of actions," she insisted.

"Regardless," Odin spoke, lifting his hand and waving it slightly before pointing at her. "You seem to forget your life is that of a ward of state, on indefinite parole. I am within my right to place you back in the dungeons for acting out as you have."

"So what is stopping you?"

"The people of Asgard would talk. It seems the majority did not take kindly to your first stay below the palace. As a member of this family by blood, you have a claim to the throne I cannot deny, and therefore I cannot imprison any longer than I already have."

"You could always banish me again. It worked well enough for you for the last eight centuries. Even my father, a son of Bor and your brother, was an heir to the throne and yet you still banished him. What is keeping you from enacting that again?"

"Your father committed treason against the crown. Being an heir to the throne doesn't protect anyone from treason. The difference is that you have not committed treason."

"Then what was my banishment about?" she demanded.

"It was about me being a stubborn, old fool who made a mistake he was too proud to undo."

Sigyn smirked, a tad impressed by his admission. "So, then what is this all about? Am I here solely so you can give me a slap on the wrist and tell me not to do it again?"

Odin looked away for a moment, staring off at small window above a shelf of countless leather-bound books. "Your magic is stronger than I imagined. It is worthy of Loki's abilities."

"I practiced on Earth for a very long time."

"But the extent of what you are capable of was hindered by being there. You were not as strong there as you are here. Being back on Asgard has heightened your abilities and that may be a problem."

"A problem for whom?"

"For those who would be at the receiving end," Odin replied, finally looking back at her. "You did remain long enough to see the damage you caused because you teleported away. Your sister's arm broke when you blasted her into the wall. Such a blow should not have harmed her so badly."

"Well, that is unfortunate."

"Your abilities pose a serious threat and given this recent outburst in your temper I have serious doubts as to whether you can be trusted," he continued as if she hadn't actually spoken. "Until such a time that I can make a proper assessment of the situation, I have no choice but confine you to a house arrest of sorts."

Sigyn gave Odin her full attention and stepped forward. "Wait, what? You just said you couldn't imprison me again."

"I'm not imprisoning you," He insisted. "Think of me as a parent punishing a child; taking away the privileges they have grown accustom to while unable to leave their room while they think about their mistakes and ways to do better in the future."

"So, then, you're going to lock me up in my chambers and throw away the key? For how long?"

Odin shrugged. "At least a month, maybe two; until you can prove to me you pose no threat."

"And how am I expected to do that?" Sigyn crossed her arms over her chest and steeled her jaw.

"You could avoid throwing a tantrum once you are alone behind closed doors. And perhaps you could write an apology to your sister for the physical pain you caused her."

"I'd rather remain locked away a year."

Odin eyed her seriously. "Do no test me, child."

"I am no child."

"Then stop acting like it," Odin barked. Both fell silent for a moment as Odin shook his head with displeasure. "It is a shame, really." Sigyn narrowed her eyes, wondering what he meant. "I had considered letting you visit Loki again. However, your behavior and attitude now suggests you are, at present, undeserving of such a gesture."

Sigyn suddenly became visibly shaken. House arrest and Odin shouting at her or condescending to her as if she were a child was all something she could handle and couldn't care less about, but she had the chance to see Loki again in her grasp and now she'd lost it. She hadn't even known it was in her grasp. Odin had never made any mention of the possibility of seeing him again known to her. It was unfair and her face showed it.

She could feel the despair and the anger burning beneath the surface of her skin, pulsing through her veins like turbulent rapids, as she dropped her arms to her sides. It took everything in her power to remain as calm as possible; to not shake or appear as affected by her words as she was. Sigyn knew he could tell he had gotten to her, if only slightly, and that little bit was enough to ensure to him he still had ways to keep her in line.

Dangling Loki in front of her, like a carrot before a horse, was so simple.

Loki was her weakness; always was and always would be. She knew it, he knew it. Hell, everyone knew it.

"Show me you can be trusted, that you are repentant for your current actions, and I shall grant you your release from house arrest in a month's time," he finally spoke again. "Maybe then I shall also revisit the idea of you seeing your husband again." Odin gripped Gungnir and pounded the bottom of the spear on the floor, twice. Tyr entered. "Please show Lady Sigyn back to her chambers and see that it is locked from the outside. We shall install an energy barrier in the morning. Until then, place two guards outside to make sure she doesn't get out."

Tyr seemed a bit confused as to why, but nodded in obedience. "Of course, my king." He stepped aside with an arm outstretched so that Sigyn may take her leave of Odin's presence first.

With a respectful curtsy, despite wanting to rip the All-father apart in her mind, Sigyn turned and walked out of the war council room. She physically shook as soon as she was out of his eyeshot and tightened her fists.

Moments later, Tyr appeared at her side, fully clad in his every day armor, and gave her a sidelong glance. "I am not in the position to ask what that was all about, because my loyalties lie first and foremost with Odin, but, for what it is worth, I am sorry about whatever has befallen you at this time," Tyr spoke.

Sigyn didn't respond as they walked along through the palace, back to her chambers.

"I remember your father quite fondly," he continued. "He was a good man and an even better soldier in his time. I fought beside him countless times in the past, long before you were ever born. It was a shame when he became so disillusioned and made his reckless attempt to take the throne. I pitied him, but I felt worse for you then, more than I did for him." Still Sigyn said nothing. "I watched you grow up from afar; watched how people at court received you and whispered behind your back, how they treated you differently because of the actions of your father. But then you became your own woman, trained as a shield maiden and returned one of the most accomplished. I saw then the respect people had for you and, yet, never once did I see you care about what others thought and you never backed down from what mattered most to you. Your unwavering devotion to both your father and to Loki, over the course of your life, has been admirable."

Sigyn didn't turn her head, but she did look at Tyr out the corner of her eye; her curiosity over his monologue piquing her interest while he signaled three guards to follow them.

"All I am saying to you now is that you are smart, skilled, strong and admirable and you deserve great happiness after the sadness you have known. I just do not want to see you waste those qualities and throw away chances at having a beautiful life back here." He looked at her briefly and then back straight ahead of them. "Should you ever need anything, milady, within reason of course, I should hope you would not hesitate to ask."

They had neared the door to her chambers and she stopped to look up at him.

"I appreciate your good words and will not forget this kindness," Sigyn spoke with a polite bow of her head. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have a month-long house arrest to commence," she added nonchalantly.

Turning away, Sigyn opened her chamber door and stepped inside before spinning around on the balls of her feet to look back at Tyr. With a smirk, she shut the door with her magic, which left Tyr and the guards a bit stunned.

"Two of you, stand watch on either side of this door and make sure it does not open," Tyr dictated to the Einherjar guards. "You," he pointed to one of the three guards, "Go find a locksmith to come fit this door with a sturdy outer lock." He cast his eyes toward the door. "Do not speak of this to any other guard or Odin himself will throw you in the dungeon."

From inside her chambers, Sigyn walked toward her balcony but didn't step out onto it. She closed her eyes and ignored her thoughts of Hnoss with a broken arm, her thoughts of Odin temporarily locking her away and any other negative thoughts that threatened her peace of mind.

She focused instead on Loki, which was her happy place. And, while she was not happy that she lost out on seeing him again, there was still hope.

And she had Tyr to add to her list of personal supporters, even if he was loyal to Odin.

_However, if there is no Odin…_

Her mind clouded with dark thoughts and those thoughts she couldn't help but think. They brought a smirk to her lips she couldn't avoid and she was just thankful Heimdall could only see everything and couldn't read minds from any distance.

He might be horrified by the darkness she embraced.

 


End file.
